A Perennial Pollinator Garden to Green and Beautify a Student Housing Co-op in Dinkytown

We recently installed a perennial garden at the Chateau Student Housing Co-op in Dinkytown. The 1,000-square-foot garden turns a large, unused space in front of the building into an aesthetically striking pollinator garden that will bloom with continuous color from May to October.

Our client, Riverton Community Housing, has worked with Plants By Design for other residential buildings they manage around Minneapolis, including installing and maintaining exterior planters with annual blooms. When a garden in front of the Chateau didn’t make it through its first winter, they turned to us for a more durable solution.

Before and after planting the new perennial garden. The plants will grow taller and fuller each year.

We suggested a pollinator garden and designed the garden in a naturalistic layout. The garden contains native plants that support pollinators, including bees, butterflies, moths, and other types of insects. Among the plants we installed:

• Baptisia (blue false indigo), which blooms from May to July
• Magnus echinacea, which blooms from mid summer to mid fall
• Neon sedum, which blooms from late summer through the fall
• Blue Heaven Little Bluestem, a prairie grass that changes color from spring to fall

Not only will the blooms provide color and aesthetic appeal from spring to fall, they will also provide a regular food source and become part of pollinators’ foraging routes. Pollinator gardens also restore natural habitats to urban areas, help sequester carbon from the atmosphere, and mitigate erosion.

Perennial gardens take three years to fully mature. This first season, our exterior plant technicians will provide regular maintenance including watering and weeding to help the plants take root. In years two and three, the plants will require continued maintenance as they grow up and out, including water, weeding, and cutting back at the end of season.

This first year, the plants will be a little smaller in scale as they channel their energy into root development. Year over year, the garden will grow in height, fullness, and beauty.

With this garden, Riverton has added a meaningful green space to the Dinkytown neighborhood. Stop by to watch it grow!