Our Land

We welcome everyone to enjoy our wildlife-friendly habitats where birds, mammals, insects and other kinds of animals find food and shelter!

About ½ mile of trails through our meadows and woodlands are available for the community to enjoy.  Signs provide information about wildlife habitats and our designations as a Monarch Butterfly Waystation and as a Certified Wildlife Habitat.  In 2023, nine benches (made from recycled plastics collected by church members!) were added to enhance enjoyment of our beautiful meadow.

Worldwide and locally, many populations of animal and plant species are decreasing rapidly due to habitat loss.  By planting native wildflowers, grasses, trees, and shrubs on our church grounds (instead of lawn grass and non-native landscape plants) we’ve provided quality habitat for native animal and plant species to thrive. In addition, these plants help improve air quality, reduce stormwater runoff, and replenish groundwater resources.

Creating and maintaining these natural areas is one way that our congregation is living out our 7th UU Principle:

“We affirm and promote respect for the interdependent web of all existence of which we are a part.”

Description of the Natural Lands:

The Unitarian Universalist Society of Mill Creek (UUSMC) has approximately 5 acres of managed natural lands.   Much of the land is open meadow, composed of a wide variety of wildflowers and grasses. Our meadows provide habitat for many animals -including insects (e.g., Monarch butterfly and native bee species), birds (e.g., Easten Bluebird and American Goldfinch) and mammals (e.g., Meadow Vole, Groundhog, Eastern Cottontail, Red Fox, and White-tailed Deer).  Eastern Gartersnake, Black Ratsnake, and Northern Brownsnake have also been observed.

Along the perimeters of the property is wooded edge. The church community has added over 150 new native trees since 2018, expanding the wooded edge and beginning a “Woods for the Wild” area on the east side of the property.  A wide variety of native trees and shrubs, including berry- and nut-producing varieties, have been planted.  These wooded areas are especially utilized by birds such as Carolina Wren, Northern Mockingbird, Red-shouldered Hawk, and many migrating songbirds.

See our List of Animals at UUSMC here.

See our List of Plants at UUSMC here.

Land Management

Management of the meadows and wooded areas is carried out by the church’s Natural Land Stewards group.  The management effort includes annual meadow mowing, invasive plant control, planting and maintaining native plants, and biodiversity surveys. Currently led by Jamie Kegerise and Amy White, the group has expanded in recent years as other enthusiastic volunteers join the effort.  Other volunteers from the church and community (including area students fulfilling community service hours) provide invaluable help with tree plantings and other special needs throughout the year.

Management goals:

    • Create a native meadow and woodlot, maximizing native biodiversity.
    • Reduce non-native invasive species populations that out-compete native species.
    • Provide an aesthetically pleasing landscape.
    • Provide areas for environmental education.
    • Support the church’s principles.
    • Be realistic with fiscal and human resource availability/limitations.

In addition to the invaluable financial support of our membership and friends, we have been awarded grants from the State of Delaware Urban and Community Forestry program that provided funding to purchase 42 of the native trees planted in 2021 and 2022. Additionally, we are associated with the Newark Interfaith Green Team and the Delaware Interfaith Power & Light, a coalition of faith communities engaged to respond to the causes and impacts of climate change.

To learn about the history of UUSMC Site Management, from development of the property in 2002/2003, through the 2017 launch of a Meadow Stewardship Project and recent tree planting events, follow this link UUSMC Land Management History.

How can you get involved?

Join our Natural Land Stewards! From March through October, we meet weekly on Wednesday evenings to perform a variety of tasks to keep our meadow and wooded areas healthy and vibrant.  Routine maintenance work includes invasive species control, watering trees during dry times, and weeding and mulching around planted trees.

Other seasonal activities include wintertime pruning of the Asian (edible) pear trees along the drive, springtime meadow mowing, spring and fall planting of native wildflowers and trees, and collecting and broadcasting wildflower seeds in autumn.

Please see Do you love nature and being outdoors? On our Volunteer page.