Greening the Landscape of Aiken

Mentor: David RaphaelMolly Bruno, Raina Brot-Goldberg, Donald Keith,

Daniel Hammerberg

Goals of the Project

Establish testing locations

Determine type of experiment

Propose ideas to UVM grounds committee

Begin planting in forestry greenhouse

Install plots outside Aiken Center

Proposed Box Placements

Plot Notes

Goal was to create something that can be easily installed and tested.

Create 10 boxes: 6’ x 9’’ x 6’’

Decided to locate plots equally spaced around the building in order to test different sunlight patterns and sub-climate zones.

Filled boxes with compost potting mix and planted with two native species of grasses.

Rain Garden Notes

Designed to capture water runoff as it continued down the hill towards drain.

Clean water before it enters the drain and heads towards the lake.

Will encourage pedestrians to stay on the path instead of walking through the grass and creating cow paths

Consist of Vermont Native grasses, flowers, and sedges.

***Due to time and financial restraints, the garden has been put on hold.***

Plan on proposing to complete next year

Plot Testing

How the compost affects temperature change of plots

How the different sunlight regimes affects growth

Testing variations in pH

Testing the impact that different wind patterns surrounding the building have on the overall growth of the plants.

Compost

We are using a mix of soil and compost from the Gardener's Supply store located on 128 Intervale Rd, Burlington, VT 05401.

The construction of the plant boxes

White Cedar Wood

Species Planted in Plots

Eastern Star Sedge Grass

Pennsylvania Sedge Grass

Maintenance

Require bi-weekly watering starting May 1, 2013

Needed to be tested every two weeks starting May 1, 2013

Tests will include: Height of plants (growth) Temperature of soil medium, and outside

temperature pH of soil Overall all appearance of plants in terms of their

health and structure

Current Status

Picked up soil from Garden Supply on Interval road last Friday morning.

The plant boxes are planted and located in the Forestry Greenhouse.

The next step is to plant the boxes around the Aiken center and maintain.

Future Goals

Looking to see plots become part of the landscape

Want to provide future testing sites

Determine the overall growth success of the two different types of plants.

Provide a learning space for students

Create a lasting impact on the Aiken Center using data from our experiment and determining which plants will perform best around the Aiken center.