LSU Pollinator Garden Gets New Student Care
Students are now maintaining the Horseshoe Pollinator Garden to help support monarch butterfly migration.
Updated on Oct. 29, 2026 in Gardening
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LSU Geaux Green has taken over the upkeep of the Horseshoe Pollinator Garden at Evangeline Hall. The club is actively managing the site to ensure migrating monarch butterflies continue their journey south to Mexico.
Why it matters
Managing local plant life is crucial for supporting regional migratory patterns and campus ecosystem health. By cutting back specific plants at the right time, the club helps sustain native insect populations in Baton Rouge.
The garden, established three years ago, now includes chaste trees, lantanas, okra, and tropical milkweed. LSU Geaux Green assumed maintenance duties at the start of the current semester.
The players
LSU Geaux Green
A student organization focused on campus sustainability and ecological stewardship that now manages local garden sites.
Hollie Hale-Donze
A faculty member who oversees the maintenance and educational efforts within the campus gardens.
The details
Club participants maintain the garden by removing weeds and trimming back vegetation. To support monarch migration, they specifically monitor tropical milkweed for butterfly eggs, cutting down only the plants that are free of eggs to discourage monarchs from remaining in the area instead of migrating.
Timeline
Three years ago the Science Residential College started the Horseshoe Pollinator Garden.
At the beginning of this semester Geaux Green assumed maintenance duties.
On Monday participants removed weeds and trimmed milkweed plants.
November 1 is the target date to cut down milkweed to discourage butterflies.
The Home Front
Campus gardening initiatives are increasingly aligning with regional ecological goals to support local biodiversity. These efforts reflect a growing trend in university landscape management to prioritize native-focused pollinator corridors.
If you maintain butterfly-friendly plants at home, check your milkweed for eggs before trimming or removing them this season. Keeping plants tidy without disrupting native insect cycles is a key part of responsible seasonal yard work.
The takeaway
Effective pollinator gardening requires careful observation of migration timing rather than just aesthetic pruning. Check the undersides of your milkweed leaves for eggs before taking shears to your plants this November.
What happens next
Geaux Green plans to expand maintenance to a garden near Woodin Hall and establish a new pollinator bed between Laville Honors House and the French House, with the bulk of this work scheduled for the spring.
Further reading
For more tips on supporting pollinators in your own landscape, see our guide to Gardening.
Source note: This article includes information reported by Reveille.
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Should student organizations take on the maintenance of campus gardens and green spaces?
