9.2.1. History of the Pollinator Garden: The Panorama Pollinator Garden was founded by Sally Vogel and other Green Team volunteers in 2015.  They secured an agreement from Panorama management to set aside a 5,000 square foot space on Chambers Lake Drive near the dog park for the garden and helped prepare the site and a set of garden paths.  Green Team volunteers have managed the garden since then. 

9.2.2. Mission Statement and Practices:

At the Panorama Activity Fair, the Pollinator Garden sign says,

“Created in 2015, the Pollinator Garden is a demonstration garden for plants that attract and provide a home for the native butterflies, bees, and hummingbirds of the Puget Sound lowlands.  Panorama volunteers design and care for the garden throughout the year. “

Our goal is to cultivate an attractive, pesticide-free sanctuary using native plants as well as some non-natives, which provide a continuous, seasonal source of nectar, pollen, and shelter for local pollinators, both insects and birds.

9.2.3 Relationship between the Pollinator Garden and Panorama Grounds: Here is what Grounds is responsible for at the Pollinator Garden. Grounds Maintenance Manager Adam Hill confirmed this list in 2026.

1. Empties the bins of weeds and clippings left down by the road (the volunteers cart the bins down there and return the empty bins to the shed area);
2. Occasionally trims the grass edges around the garden when mowing in the area;
3. When asked, Grounds delivers wood chips and gravel for garden paths. Volunteers do all the spreading of these;
4. Periodically checks the watering system, which involves the underground sprinkler system and two hose bibs. 

9.2.4 What the “Pollinator Garden Coordinator” job entails:

1. Convenes at least one planning meeting with the Pollinator Garden volunteers ahead of the spring season.
2. Sends out reminders of Pollinator Garden workdays.
3. Recruits volunteers with the help of existing volunteers.
4. Keeps an email list of volunteers.
5. Submits occasional news to the Panorama News Green Team page editor.
6. Serves as the point-of-contact for the Green Team budget.
7. Serves as the liaison to the Grounds Department.
8. Represents the Pollinator Garden at the Panorama Activity Fair and brings a sign-up sheet for prospective volunteers.

9.2 5. Watering: During the 2026 growing season, the automatic sprinklers (managed by Grounds staff) water the garden for about 10 minutes at 1 AM on even days of the month.  The sprinklers do a fairly good job of covering the garden plants, but there are hoses and two hose bibs in the garden for additional watering as needed. 

9.2.6. Supplies: Garden tools are housed in a shed at the west end of the garden.  Tools include shovels, trowels, weeding equipment and tarps for hauling chips or clippings.  Volunteers usually bring their own gloves and clippers.

9.2.7. Plant Labels: Visitors to the Pollinator Garden appreciate the plant labels which are throughout the garden.  The labels and their wire stakes are sold by the Paw Paw, Everlast Label Company in Paw Paw, Michigan. https://www.everlastlabel.com/  To make the plant names, we use transparent peel-off plastic labels sold by the Uline Company: they are Uline Crystal Clear Laser Labels, 3’ x 2” , product number S-1914.  We have a large box of labels which should last for many years.  The labels can be printed on a laser printer using the template S-21914 Template _Poll Garden Labels.

9.2.8. Budget Planning: The Pollinator Garden budget is part of the Green Team budget. Our budget for several years was $150, mainly to be spent on new plants for the garden. However, a previous coordinator spent his own money acquiring plants and did not ask the Green Team for reimbursement.  So, in 2026, we agreed to increase our request to $250 so that we can acquire plants and pay for more signage. 

9.2.9. Volunteer Workdays at the Garden: The garden season begins at the end of February, when all “hands are on deck” to begin the end-of-winter cleanup of the garden plants.  The garden season usually ends at the end of October, with volunteers spreading leaves in the flowerbeds. 

In spring and fall, our garden workdays have been on the last Sunday of the month at 2 PM.  In the hotter days of late June, July and August, we have switched to Saturday mornings at 9 AM; the last Saturday of the month is the official “garden workday,” but other workdays are announced if needed.  Volunteers generally gather and walk through the garden together to identify what needs attention.  All volunteers are welcome to work individually at the garden to carry out tasks, but the volunteers generally agree that meeting together is valuable.

9.2.10. Attracting new volunteers: We have attracted new volunteers via Volunteer Central in the Panorama News and word of mouth. Our most productive recruitment vehicle has been the Activity Fair at which we have used the Pollinator Garden Volunteer Sign-up Sheet and the Pollinator Garden Sign, which is printed/mounted on foamcore for use specifically at the Activity Fair.

9.2.11. Dealing with Yellow Jackets: During several growing seasons, yellow jackets have nested in the Pollinator Garden.  One response is to let them be and ignore them; another is to address the safety issues for volunteers and visitors and remove the nests.  While we could ask the pest-control team on the Panorama Grounds staff to kill the nest with insecticides, we have preferred to secure the services of Cascade Venom Collection schedule@cascadiavenomcollection.com  or 360-866-1834.  When this company has an active contract with a venom collector, it will remove the nest(s) organically with no charge.  If it does not have an active contract, it will charge us about $250.00.