Bethpage State Park Ecology

Every now and then, our golf course gardens need some tender love and care. This season, we decided to focus our attention on the "Red Eye" wildflower garden, our beautiful pollinator habitat that can be seen from #13 fairway on the Red Course.  The Red Eye blooms as early as May and continues well into October. It is perhaps one of our most unique gardens as Victor Azzeretto (our horticulturist) designed it to be an eye-catching spiral shape with a path down the middle (below).   To revamp the area, our goal was to remove stubborn invasives, amend soil where needed, and prep a new space for the reintroduction of pollinator-favorite plants (above). This kind of work often provides an opportunity to call on the local community and lucky for us George Kiesel (left) helped us do just that! George is a NYS park employee from one of our sister parks, Connetquot State Park. He dedicates his time to organizing community group events that aim at beautifying different state parks all