GROOMING THE GARDENS: Volunteers from the Garden Club of Princeton, Friends of Princeton Open Space, Sustainable Princeton, and the community recently began working with botanists and ecologists from WildLawn to remove invasive plants surrounding the Princeton Battle Monument and replace them with a variety of natives. (Photo courtesy of Sustainable Princeton)

By Anne Levin

Thursday, June 6 was the first official workday of a collaborative project aimed at revitalizing the garden beds surrounding the Princeton Battle Monument.

Located just steps away from Morven, which is certain to be a focal point of the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence, Monument Park is likely to be a much-visited location once the celebrations begin.

“Since one of the signers of the Declaration of Independence [Richard Stockon] lived at the Morven house, we expect many visitors to be coming through this part of town,” said Sarah Ringer, who with Jody Erdman led a group of neighbors, known unofficially as the Friends of Monument Park, on the project along with Sustainable Princeton, Friends of Princeton Open Space (FOPOS), and the Garden Club of Princeton. WildLawn of Bucks County, Pa., was hired to lead the project.

“We want to take this opportunity to showcase our natural heritage, too,” Ringer added. “Native plants are part of our history. Adding these native plants is an homage to our past and future, as we hope to preserve this heritage for future generations.”

The neighbors came together to raise funds and hire WildLawn to “renaturalize” the garden beds surrounding the monument and plaza. “The project really sold itself,” said Christine Symington, executive director of Sustainable Princeton. “When we talked to people about what our vision was, the response was overwhelming.”

The municipality donated all of the native plants for the project. Among them: butterfly milkweed, fox hedge, river oats, wavy hair grass, white wood aster, Joe-Pye weed, wild geranium, St. John’s wort, wood rush, foxglove beardtongue, hairy beardtongue, wreath goldenrod, and arrowwood.

All were planted on the first day of the project. Since then, Symington and colleague Madeline Stahl have been watering the plants every two days to make sure they survive.

“Especially during this heat wave, we’re keeping a keen eye on them,” said Symington. “Once natives get established, they don’t need a lot. But when they are new, they need to be watered often. We’re also doing some spot weeding.”

A few shrubs and plants at the site were intentional, but there were a number of invasives that had overrun the park. Among them was English ivy. “We’re in an Ivy League town, but it’s an invasive plant, so it had to be improved,” said Symington. “We thought the best way to manage it all was to start from scratch, clearing the soil and planting entirely native plants. We put out a request to landscaping companies that specialize in this kind of thing, and selected WildLawn.”

In a release about the project, Erdman thanked those involved. “We are extremely grateful to Sustainable Princeton for conveying the uniqueness of this project to Mayor Freda, the Historic Preservation Commission, the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection, and many others in proximity to the monument so that we can improve the beauty of this essential gateway into Princeton,” she said. “We would also like to honor our close-knit community of donors who stepped up to support the rejuvenation of this historic park.”

The work is scheduled to be completed by the end of 2024, allowing the plants a full year to establish themselves. The matured garden beds will be in full bloom in time for the semiquincentennial.

“It’s been a great partnership with FOPOS and the Garden Club of Princeton, which have supported the project financially,” said Symington. “It’s a really good example of what we can do when we work together.”