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.
Get Involved
Sustainable Lawn Care
Learn about how you can manage your lawn in a more sustainable manner.
Monitor Pollinators
If you would like to help monitor pollinators on campus, please email Victoria Salerno, Bee Campus project assistant: vasalerno@wisc.edu
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: iraley@wisc.edu
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
See if you can find these pollinators and plants in the lawn!
- Rusty Patched Bumble Bee (Bombus affinis)
- Monarch (Danaus plexippus)
- Ottoe Skipper (Hesperia ottoe W.H. Edwards)
- Northern Blue (Plebejus idas)
- Phlox Moth (Schinia indiana)
- Cabbage White (Pieris rapae)
- Spring Azure (Celastrina ladon)
- Eastern Tiger Swallowtail (Papilio glaucus)
- Dutch White Clover (Trifolium repens)
- Self-heal (Prunella vulgaris)
- Plantain (Plantago sp.)
- Violet (Viola sororia)
- Creeping Charlie (Glechoma hederacea)
- Dandelion (Taraxacum officinale)
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
- Students
- UW-Madison Arboretum
- Facilities Planning and Management
- UW-Madison Housing
- Office of Sustainability
Anna Schwendinger Allison Sundeen Katherine Ackley
Ben Douglas. Bri Stevens Melina Nguyen
Gigi Diekelman. Gwen Kelley Emily Schmitt
Susan Carpenter – Wisconsin Native Plant Garden Curator
David Stevens – Ed Hasselkus Curator, Longenecker Horticultural Gardens
Karen Oberhauser – Director
Rhonda James – Senior Landscape Architect
Robert Scott – Building and Grounds Supervisor
Malorie Garbe – Sustainability Coordinator
Adam Rittel – Facilities Project Coordinator
Ian Aley – Green Fund Program Manager
Alex Frank – Project Portfolio Manager
Victoria Salerno – Project Assistant
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