Tripp Pollinator Lawns

The UW–Madison Green Fund supports student ideas that improve campus sustainability, including this project! For more information, contact Ian Aley at iraley@wisc.edu

Project Background

This is a pollinator lawn. Along with grass, it includes low-lying flowering plants like white clover, self-heal, and plantain that offer forage for bees and other pollinators. No pesticides (herbicides, insecticides, or fungicides) are used in the space. UW–Madison staff mow the lawn less frequently and at a slightly higher height to encourage flowering. Students worked with Grounds, Arboretum, Campus Planning and Landscape Architecture, Housing staff, and Plant Pathology faculty to establish this pilot site in Fall 2022. Campus community members now monitor pollinators in the space to explore the effects of the pilot project. The UW–Madison is pursuing Bee Campus certification. Spaces like this help us be a more welcoming space for pollinators.

Contents

Get Involved

Sustainable Lawn Care

Learn about how you can manage your lawn in a more sustainable manner.

Read the article! ​ ​

Monitor Pollinators

If you would like to help monitor pollinators on campus, please email Victoria Salerno, Bee Campus project assistant: <a href="mailto:“vasalerno@wisc.edu”">vasalerno@wisc.edu</a>

Get Involved with Green Fund!

If you would like to improve the sustainability of the UW–Madison campus by getting involved with a Green Fund project, please email Ian Aley, Green Fund Program Manager: <a href="mailto:“iraley@wisc.edu”">iraley@wisc.edu</a>

News and Articles

UW–Madison earns Bee Campus USA certification

Learn about the UW Bee Campus certification

UW–Madison Recertified by Bee Campus USA

Learn about how the pollinator lawn project supported the UW’s Bee Campus recertification effort.

Promoting a Pollinator Paradise

The Commons featured an article about the pollinator lawns in the August 2023 edition

Longenecker Lawns: More than Grass

Read about the pollinator lawn at the UW Arboretum Longenecker Garden

Grounds crew creates beauty — and biodiversity — on campus

Read about the efforts to establish native pollinator lawns on the UW–Madison campus

Native Pollinator Species – Plants and Insects

Viewing slide of 6

Bombus impatiens

A Bumblebee in a patch of Creeping Charlie

Vanessa atalanta

Red Admiral Butterfly on a patch of Creeping Charlie

Megachillidae species

A Megachillid bee on a dandelion.

Polites peckius

Peck's skipper on a Red Clover.

Papilio glaucus

Eastern Tiger Swallowtail on a Red Clover.

Colias philodice

A Clouded Sulfur Butterfly on a Red Clover

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See if you can find these pollinators and plants in the lawn!

It is important to note that many of the plant species present in the lawn are not native to Wisconsin and were introduced.  These flowering plants may be common in lawns that are not treated with herbicide.  

Project Partners

Tripp Pollinator Lawn Application Material

Are you interested in applying for the Green Fund for a similar project? Click on the link below to view the application for this project. For more information on application requirements, visit the Green Fund Application Information page or contact the Green Fund Program Manager, Ian Aley at iraley@wisc.edu

Application Materials