A butterfly garden is designed to create an environment that attracts butterflies by using certain flowers and plants in the area.

This beautiful environmental feature is coming soon to Mavis Stouffer Park compliments of the Ripon Garden Club.

At last Tuesday’s meeting, the Ripon City Council approved the donation of a butterfly garden to be placed in the previous sand pit / toddler swing area.

According to City Administrator Kevin Werner, the City of Ripon established a policy to accept such donations in 2016.

Enter the Ripon Garden Club.

The butterfly garden would be located in the north boundary of the park at 1000 Stouffer St. Part of the donation includes city employees working together with the local Garden Club. 

The City, for its part, would need to cut the curb on the west end of the site to make this currently unutilized area ADA-accessible from the parking lot to the proposed new main entrance, provide a no-parking zone, cut the concrete perimeter at the west end six inches down and six feet wide to allow access into the garden, and supply some 44 yards of clean soil.

The City’s help is also needed with the irrigation into the garden area, removing barbed wire and brackets on the adjacent fence and allowing the Garden Club to paint the chain link fence, using a dark green exterior enamel color.

The project, in addition, would call for the building of a trellis along the back wall of the fence within the boundary of the garden.