Community members have taken it upon themselves to restore and rejuvenate the garden area outside Sandy Hook Elementary School (SHS).

The project began on May 9, when family, friends, or even people beyond the community were encouraged to lend a helping hand to dig holes, bury new plants, water plants, and more.

Leading the effort is local landscape designer and founder of Holmes Fine Gardens, Dan Holmes. He called the project a community effort which has received assistance from parents, volunteers, children, and local Girl Scouts.

Holmes said they decided to plant Connecticut-native plants.

"So they're going to be drought tolerant. They're going to be hearty and great for pollinators, so we're hoping that it's going to reflect something educational for the kids," Holmes explained.

The project is a long time coming. Board of Education member John Vouros was the one who alerted Holmes that the SHS gardens needed help, and brought him to the area last fall.

Holmes saw the landscape plans when it was initially planted around ago a decade ago.

"And obviously they put a lot into it ... but I think what happened is, it wasn't really watered or maintained at all," Holmes explained.

He said that the first three years of a garden are critical to keep invasive weeds out and make sure plants are growing properly.

"None of that happened, unfortunately," Holmes added.

He said the school does not have the funds to properly restore the garden area, so he and other community members gathered donations from various organizations, planters, and choice nurseries to beautify the area.

Some businesses and groups that donated plants include the local Planters' Choice Nursery, Highstead in Redding, North Creek Nurseries in Penn., and local nonprofit conservation group Protect Our Pollinators.

Other groups that donated are Lenahan Land Clearing & Grinding, which provided mulch, and John Giglio, of Giglio Landscape Services, has been at the site helping "since day one," according to Holmes.

He emphasized that the garden restoration project is not a solo effort.

"I just decided to try to rally the troops, and the troops showed up," Holmes said.

Holmes added that he is very grateful for everyone who has shown up, although he said they could use some more people to help with weeding.

As of Saturday, May 30, Holmes estimated that they had finished restoring around 60-70% of the garden area. He noted they are waiting on river stone to be delivered, so they can redo the bioswale with gravel.

A bioswale is meant to allow water to infiltrate down into the ground, according to Holmes.

The end goal, he said, is to have it be a native, natural garden. It will be dormant during the winter.

"So it's not going to be evergreen in front of the school," Holmes added. "It's a different kind of look, but it has huge ecological functions thanks to the plants that we're putting in ... All the plants that we're putting in have ecological value."

Some of these plants, he said, are very specific to certain species of bees and pollinators, as they rely on specific plants to provide pollen.

One of those plants is mountain mint, which Holmes called an "incredible pollinator." Another plant, butterfly weed, is relied on by monarch butterflies as a source of nectar to complete their life cycle.

Other plants include New England aster, liatris, and certain species of goldenrod.

"And goldenrod does not cause allergies, that's a misnomer," Holmes added.

He said there are also some native grasses that give the gardens some winter structure and interest in the wintertime.

Holmes noted that many people are used to cutting their gardens down before the end of fall, but the idea with the SHS garden is to actually leave it up through the winter.

"This is because, in the fall, many insects deposit their eggs into the hollow stems of plants, so they rely on those stems to actually produce their progeny," Holmes said. "So keeping your plants standing in the wintertime, rather than cutting them down, is really ecologically beneficial. So that's something we'll be doing here as well."

Holmes said he was anticipating extending the project at least to the weekend of June 6-7, though it could run longer depending on factors such as weather.

"If we need more time, we need more time. It's a big undertaking, but we've gotten a lot done already," Holmes said.

For anyone who is interested in restoring the gardens at Sandy Hook Elementary School, Holmes encouraged people to stop by Sandy Hook Elementary School on Saturday, June 6 and/or on Sunday, June 7 around 10 am-1 pm. People can also contact Holmes at 203-515-8623.

Reporter Jenna Visca can be reached at jenna@thebee.com.