Floral Park’s nature lovers and bird watchers are in luck.
The village’s 13-acre Centennial Gardens reopened to the public on April 1. Visitors are welcome every day from 12 p.m. to 5 p.m.
“People are so happy it’s reopening,” said Ann Moynagh, a volunteer who’s worked with the garden for 20 years. “It’s so beautiful.”
The gardens boast a Japanese garden, a butterfly garden, a few small bridges and other open, flowery spaces for people to walk through, Moynagh said. She said many residents enjoy walking through them, reading, and writing, including one local musician who performs the songs he writes at a nearby restaurant.
“I think in today’s society, with all the cell phones and media and everything else, being able to just walk in there and walk around makes you appreciate the beauty of nature,” Moynagh said. “It kind of lets you be able to just be quiet for a little while.”
Moynagh said she started volunteering after growing up in Ozone Park without a yard. “I didn’t even know what soil was,” she added, laughing. “Now, for me, playing the dirt down there is one of the most fun things ever.”
For those looking to help maintain the gardens, Moynagh said everyone is welcome to the garden’s monthly “weed out” event, which takes place at 9 a.m. on the first Saturday of each month until November.
Additionally, the garden, which doubles as a bird sanctuary, continues its winter bird seed collection until the end of April to support the local bird population through the colder months.
Donald Haug, a supervisor and gardener at the Floral Park Recreation Center who helps to lead the garden’s annual bird seed collection, said supporting the birds through the winter is incredibly important, as it is harder for them to find food. He said he typically purchases multiple bags of seed himself each month.
Haugh said the garden collects five varieties of bird seed: wild bird seed, which he said serves many species, thistle, which serves a variety of finches, black oil sunflower seeds, which primarily attract black cap chickadees, safflower seeds for cardinals, and suet cakes for woodpeckers.
Those interested can drop the seed off at the village’s Recreation and Pool Center, located at 2 Pool and Garage Road. After April, the garden will resume collecting seeds in the fall when the weather turns again. Haugh said the garden needs dozens of pounds of seed monthly in the winter to support the birds. In the summer, he said he places hummingbird feeders across the garden.
Now that the sanctuary is open again, residents can come by to see the spring birds as they return.
“It’s amazing how many different varieties of songbirds we have here at Centennial Gardens,” Haugh said. “They’re right here in our backyard.”
