Bethpage State Park Ecology

Last week, Bethpage State Park hosted volunteers from Leviton Manufacturing for a massive planting event! A large group of forty-five participants arrived ready to work and help with our park's Right Of Way Restoration Project.  This beautification project, in collaboration with PSEG, aims to remove invasive flora species to purposefully plant native wildflowers in its place. This not only revitalizes the green space under our telephone wires but more importantly, provides better forage and habitat for pollinators and wildlife. However, this is not a task that can be done overnight! Bethpage State Park Horticulture Staff Victor Azzaretto and Alexa Roldos spent weeks working with their weekend gardening group prepping the site before Leviton's arrival. This included clearing large patches of invasive plants, throwing down grass seed and amending the soil. Not to mention, the native plants used for this project were not bought from a nursery but propagated from seed and grow