Conservation Commendations

If you care about Nantucket and its fragile ecosystem, learn how you can make a difference.

The Nantucket Garden Club and Nantucket Land & Water Council partner to recognize gardens throughout the community that reflect best practices to encourage biodiversity, reduce the impact on our waters, and withstand the ravages of increasingly severe weather conditions. See how you can receive a Conservation Commendation Plaque for your efforts by creating a pollinator habitat, planting a climate-resilient garden, or establishing an environmentally friendly lawn.

Commendation Areas

Pollinator Gardens

Birds, butterflies, and beneficial insects are attracted to specific varieties of plants. Create a pollinator habitat that can be a single garden or split among multiple areas of your yard. The garden must consist of plant material beneficial to pollinators, a majority of which are native to Nantucket.
Garden must remain free of pesticides and chemicals.

Turf - New or Conversion from Traditional Lawn

Traditional lawns consume vast amounts of water resources and require ongoing fertilization that is detrimental to ponds, the harbors, and the island’s water supply. There are more resilient varieties of turf grass that do not require irrigation or the use of fertilizers. To qualify for this Commendation, a minimum of 200 square feet of lawn must be planted with low-maintenance species, a majority of which are native to Nantucket.

Resilient Landscapes & Rain Gardens

Climate -resilient landscapes and rain gardens are appropriate adjacent to a beach, dune, coastal bank, waterbody, or within an area prone to flooding. Plant material should include low-maintenance species, a majority of which are native to Nantucket. Plant material should be hardy, strong-rooted perennials or grasses able to tolerate both wet and dry conditions.

How to Receive a Commendation

Select the Commendation category.
Submit the online application describing the garden and plant material by July 15.
Applications are reviewed by a joint Nantucket Garden Club / Nantucket Land & Water Council committee.
A site visit will be scheduled.
Approved applicants will receive the pictured Commendation plaque and be recognized at the Nantucket Garden Club’s August Annual Meeting.

Submit an application

Resources

Click on the blue links below for sources/details

– NLC Pollinator Species List
– Nantucket Native Plants Brochure and Species List
– NLC Pollinator Program Guide
– Fun for Families

Turfgrass Species Lists
– Lavoie Horticulture
– Prairie Nursery

Low Maintenance Meadow
– Duke Farms
– UVM

Species List of Sedges and Other Grasses
    – BBG
    – Lavoie Horticulture
    – Prairie Nursery

Native Fescue-Based Seed Mixes:
– Panicum virgatum (switchgrass), Schizachyrium scoparium (little bluestem), Carex pennsylvanica (Pennsylvania sedge)
– Eragrostis spectabilis (cane or love grass) and can use plugs

Species List of Plants Tolerant of Wet and Dry Conditions

Where to purchase plant materials and/or seeds:

– Bartlett’s Farm
– Surfing Hydrangea Nursery
– Moors End Farm
– Arrowhead Nursery
– Prairie Moon
– Sheffields
– Hudson Valley Seed

Commendation Recipients

Gail Greenwald
Meg Gliddon
Jane Hammond
Melissa Puljic
Christine Harding
Peter Kellner
Kevin Kuester
Nantucket Garden Club-Saltmarsh Center Garden
Nantucket Conservation Foundation-Kelly Omand
Susan O’Brien
Valentina B. Gandini Booth
Barb Kaytes