Sustainable Landscape Practices Educational and Demonstration Garden at the Hampton Roads Agricultural Research and Extension Center.

Virginia Tech’s newly developed Sustainable Landscape Practices Educational and Demonstration Garden at the Hampton Roads Agricultural Research and Extension Center is the first place winner in the Landscape/Green Industry category of the City of Virginia Beach’s 2011 Stewardship Awards.

The City’s Stewardship Awards recognize residents, organizations, and businesses within the City who demonstrate initiative and leadership in achieving a healthier outdoor environment.

The half-acre garden, designed by Laurie Fox, research associate, and planted and maintained by the Virginia Beach Master Gardener Water Stewards, wraps three sides of the new classroom addition at the Hampton Roads AREC. It contains 140 plant species and follows the sustainable concepts of biological diversity, resource conservation, low impact/input, long term planning, and water conservation. Thirty demonstrated practices that anyone can do in their landscape include: rain chains, sensors, and barrels, vegetated swales, permeable paving, passive solar heating/cooling, plant diversity and trophic layers, drip and watering bag irrigation, recycled products, proper fertilizer use, solar lighting, and grasscycling.

The garden is open to the public and is well signed for self-guided tours.

Submitted by:  Laurie Fox, research associate, Hampton Roads Agricultural Research and Extension Center.