Scope of Work
Contract grow and supply of over 11,000 native grasses and shrubs to aid in the recreation of a naturalized coastal area within New York States Park managed Jones Beach Park. This project took place in the summer of 2020 and consisted of a wonderful collaboration early on in the project with Starr Whitehouse Landscape Architects along with knowledgeable input from Matt Gettinger, President of Long Island Natives and NYS Parks Landscape Architects regarding appropriate species selection, size options, and other key deliverables.
Site and Planting Design
The Purpose
At Jones Beach on Long Island, NYS Parks is creating a new energy and nature center that will provide hands-on exhibits for the general public about energy and beach ecology. To accompany the new building by nARCHITECTS, Starr Whitehouse has been retained to transform an existing parking lot into a restored beachscape with diverse plantings from local maritime plant communities. Site circulation will take visitors on a journey through the topographic and hydrographic zones associated with a beach to bay ecology in the Northeast, winding through sculpted dunes secured against the erosion and sediment transportation that impact this windy site. A pollinator garden and outdoor exhibits such as the giant blade of a wind turbine advance the institution’s educational mission. Once complete, the new landscape will transform almost 10 acres of concrete parking lot into native grasses and scrubland that will recreate lost habitat and provide ecological education opportunities for students and visitors.