GCA Partners4Plants Grant Funds a Native Plant Pollinator Garden in Long Branch, NJ.

Rumson Garden Club and Flower to the People Partners with Friends of Jackson Woods

April 16, 2025

By: Heather Robinson

In 2024, Rumson Garden Club (RGC) received a Garden Club of America (GCA) Partners4Plants (P4P) grant to install a native plant pollinator garden at Jackson Woods, a 13-acre park in coastal Long Branch, NJ. It was a collaborative effort with RGC volunteers, Friends of Jackson Woods, Jason Goldman, founder of Flower to the People, a native plant landscape design company, and WMG Property Maintenance.  Volunteers prepared the planting site, clearing it of vines and knotweed.  Goldman donated his time to design planting plans for the garden, while the P4P funds purchased the plants. 

On October 11th, 2024, with Goldman’s plans in hand, volunteers from RGC, Jackson Woods and Garrido Brothers Landscaping met to dig in over 200 mature native plants at a visible location near the park entrance.  The result was an “instant” native plant garden, with pollinators showing up to sample the flowers before they were even in the ground!  In the spring, early ephemerals such as Virginia bluebells (Mertensia virginica) will give way to bergamot (Monarda fistulosa), New Jersey tea (Ceanothus americanus) and columbine (Aqueligia canadensis) rounding out the season with a spray of sunshine as the goldenrods (Solidago caesia and Solidago rugosa ‘Fireworks’) bloom.  

Originally a private estate, Jackson Woods Park was gifted to the city of Long Branch and subsequently sat untouched and overrun by a thicket of invasive plants.   Friends of Jackson Woods adopted the park in 2018 and helped manage invasives--with the help of Weed Wrangle® (started by a GCA member!). The work continues and the park is thriving as local volunteer organizations work to create a destination where nature thrives.