Wondering "What's That?" We're Going Brown to Go Green

by Grace Chapman, Director of Horticulture, Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden; photos by PR & Marketing Coordinator Jonah Holland

Compost on the Rose Garden terraced lawn.

In an effort to reduce the chemicals that we use at Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden we are trying to  implement as many eco-friendly methods as possible to maintain our beautiful grounds. This fall, we top-dressed our Bermuda grass areas with compost. This will add extra nutrients to the soil, reducing the need for synthetic fertilizers over time. We have also over-seeded the Bermuda grass areas with perennial rye grass seed. This will give the Rose Garden Lawn a green appearance throughout the winter when the Bermuda is naturally dormant. The freshly applied composted soil has a “ripe” smell right now, but it will quickly fade, as will the appearance of the compost on the top of the grass (it should only be visible for a few days).

The Rose Garden & the terraced lawn will benefit from this compost.

At its core, Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden is focused on education and for more than 25 years has worked to raise awareness of our interdependence with the natural world. The Garden’s mission underscores its commitment to the future: “We advocate for sustainability and stewardship of our planet.”  Here we are putting our actions behind our words. Find out what  other sustainable initiatives  the Garden is working on and what you can do at home to help the environment on our Gardening for the Future page.