ReWild Garden at Dodge

Rewild garden at dodge

Located at the Thomas Dodge Homestead in Port Washington, NY

Our vision for the ReWild Garden at Dodge was to create a community space where the residents of Port Washington can learn about the historic and environmental importance of native plants while also understanding their role in sustainable landscaping today. When we started in March 2021, the grounds of the Thomas Dodge Homestead needed a lot of restoration. Invasive vines, poison ivy and emerging trees had choked several areas and threatened historic structures. The fencing and architecture of the space restricted volunteer and public access. The layout of the organic farm was not conducive to the community activities we conduct there including our annual native plant distribution and youth activities.

ReWild embarked on a transformation project developing a broad vision that is now crystallizing as the ReWild Garden at Dodge.

Our volunteers (adults and students) worked tirelessly to remove invasives, place cardboard and mulch to suppress regrowth, plant natives and create a beautiful garden. The design of the garden was spearheaded by Dianna Facci, a volunteer with design skills and an eye for detail. This evolved over several years as we experimented with the actual use of the space.

Our current mature design has an herbal plant wheel in the center of the garden to honor the contributions of native people and native plants in preserving biodiversity. On one side of the garden, we grow organic vegetables fed by compost made from local kitchen and yard waste. On the other side of the garden, we are trying out different ideas for landscaping aesthetics around native plants.

Our garden, like ReWild Long Island, is ever-changing, ambitious, experimental, and created by a lot of people who care deeply about working together!

Rainwild, the rain garden designed by the youth

Students from the ReWild Summer Program 2024, including Annie Yao, Yuzhen Lin, Alexa D'Arrigo, Annie Li, Atiya Haider, Emily Polevikov, Erin Wong, Joseph Zheng, Lucienne Keyoung, Russell Schwartz, Shouryan Sirsi, and Yusuf Quaizar, participated in the Youth Garden Design Pilot Program. Throughout the 8-week program, they learned about the elements of garden design, focusing on aesthetics, functionality, and the practicality of creating a sustainable garden. Together, they designed a rain garden to help manage rainwater runoff. This rain garden offers ecological benefits by filtering rainwater, promoting water infiltration, protecting local waterways, and supporting wildlife, all while providing a beautiful space to admire. In the final week of the program, the students presented their garden designs in August 2024, which was inspired by a vibrant and lively color scheme of yellows and purples. The student rain garden design was planted in October 2024.

Get involved with the Rewild Garden at Dodge by emailing kathy.coley@rewildlongisland.org (Kathy Coley).