The Pocket Meadow at Dark Moon Preserve
At the entrance to Dark Moon Preserve, Ridge and Valley Conservancy (RVC) is restoring a small but ecologically powerful space: a 5,500- square-foot pocket meadow designed to support native pollinators and improve biodiversity across the surrounding landscape.
This once-overrun patch of land is being transformed into a thriving native habitat through strategic ecological restoration: the removal of invasive species, replanting with diverse native flora, and ongoing care from both professionals and community volunteers.
What started as a pilot project has grown into a broader initiative, and in 2025, RVC received another grant from TC Energy to significantly expand this work.
WHy a pocket meadow?
Pollinators such as butterflies, bees, and moths are vital to both natural ecosystems and agricultural systems. But their populations are in decline due to habitat loss, invasive species, insecticide use, and climate change.
The Pocket Meadow will support native pollinators at Dark Moon Preserve by:
Providing a diversity of nectar and host plants to support all stages of pollinator life cycles, such as milkweed for the Monarch butterfly, which is currently under consideration for federal Threatened status
Creating a robust seed source to enrich the larger meadows at Dark Moon Preserve and beyond
Providing hands-on learning opportunities for the community, demonstrating to landowners how they, too, can add small native pocket meadows to their gardens to support pollinators
Project Goals & Work In Progress
With support from TC Energy and the 2025 grant, RVC is working to:
Install 2,200 new native plants over a 2–3 year period, sourced from regional nurseries to ensure ecological fit
Suppress reemergence of invasive species using a combination of hand-weeding, raw wood chip mulch, and, if necessary, targeted herbicide application (conducted only by licensed professionals)
Engage and educate volunteers, creating a meadow maintenance team to ensure the pocket meadow’s long-term health
Why it matters
The Pocket Meadow is more than just a garden — it’s an ecological intervention. Left unchecked, invasive species like Mugwort, Mile-a-Minute, and Tree of Heaven would return and overrun the area, displacing the native plants that pollinators and other wildlife depend on. This meadow:
Strengthens climate resilience through increased plant and insect diversity
Creates a living classroom for community science and environmental literacy
Enhances the broader grassland and stream-side ecosystems of the preserve, including the adjacent 28 acres of restored native grassland buffering Bear Brook, a Category One stream
Volunteer With Us!
Become a Pocket Meadow Protector: We need your help to keep the meadow thriving.
Join our Weekly Weeding Sessions:
Any Wednesday at 9:00 AM • July through September
Meet at Dark Moon Preserve
We provide coffee, bagels, tools, and heartfelt gratitude!
A Long-Term Commitment
The Pocket Meadow is a small piece of a much larger vision. Since 1992, RVC has permanently protected more than 5,000 acres across northwestern New Jersey. With accreditation from the National Land Trust Accreditation Commission, we hold ourselves to the highest standards of land management and fiscal responsibility.
This initiative not only builds on our past success but invests in the future by nurturing biodiversity, strengthening community partnerships, and deepening public understanding of the natural world.
We’re proud to partner with TC Energy and all the individuals who contribute time, resources, and passion to this work. A special thanks to Carla Lee Lewis, Sharon Wander, and Eric Svendsen, who helped make this work possible.
