Michigan Avenue Service Center

About the Program
The Michigan Avenue Service Center, a compressed natural gas service center, is one of several DTE Energy sites and is located in Ypsilanti, Michigan, in the southeastern part of the state. The conservation objective for the Michigan Avenue Service Center team is to use native plants to attract pollinators, bluebirds and reduce stormwater runoff while providing more native plants for pollinators. The three conservation projects that make up this site include a butterfly garden, a native rain garden and a species-specific eastern bluebird project. The two landscape habitat projects are both about 400 square feet, or .009 acres in size. All projects use native plants, and the avian project includes bird boxes in hopes of encouraging eastern bluebird nesting.

Practices and Impacts

• The 400-square-foot rain garden uses all native plants that can reduce stormwater runoff and decrease parking lot flooding. In 2018, the project team found the diversity of plant species was reduced, and they removed some of the spiderwort and blue flag iris to replace it with butterfly weed and cardinal flower. It is now regularly managed through weeding, watering and necessary maintenance so that it can continue to be a native habitat for pollinators in the area.
• The butterfly garden is a 400-square-foot garden that began in 2012 to replace less conservation-friendly turf grass. The project team has utilized exclusively native plants to attract pollinators. Monitoring has indicated that plants are doing well, and steps are being taken to reduce any invasion from one specific species of plant in order to maintain diversity. The team follows the Michigan Pollinators Initiative's Protection plan, which discourages pesticide use and provides guidance on the planting of native plant species.