Keep Prince William Beautiful (KPWB) partnered with nearly 200 volunteers to create a pollinator garden at a local landfill with the help of a Keep America Beautiful/Lowe’s Community Partners Grant.

Keep Prince William Beautiful, a Keep America Beautiful affiliate in Prince William, Virginia, along with nearly 200 volunteers planted a pollinator garden at the Prince William County Landfill. The project extended the course of two weekends.

The goal was to build a garden full of pollinator plants to attract the native bee population. About one-third of an acre was provided at the landfill for the garden. Pallets were used to build enclosures for two native bee hotels and two honey bee hives, and used canoes were placed alongside tire stacks to serve as raised beds for native plants. The garden features a winding path surrounded by a native seed mix that will grow into a meadow area with a variety of pollinator flowers. The plants were chosen to ensure they can survive in the Prince William County climate and return year after year.

Several partners, including Bees in Schools, LLC, George Mason University, and Prince William Conservation Alliance, assisted in planning and implementing the garden.

The Prince William County Landfill strives to make the area more than just a place to dump trash. They will be adding the garden to its tour, which is given by staff on a repurposed school bus. The tour will provide the opportunity to walk through the garden and see how bees use it for food and to live. In addition, the Prince William Conservation Alliance will lead a pollinator count of the garden to see how well the plants are working for different types of pollinators, and Bee in Schools will provide expertise to educate visitors and maintain the hives.