12/20/2012
Edible sustainable landscaping is an important step toward sustainability in an urban environment. Replacing a traditional grass lawn with this type of landscaping would reduce water and maintenance requirements of an area of campus and would create habitat for animals as well as providing food for local wildlife, pollinators, and members of the community. The project sought to design a plot of edible landscaping on campus of Clark University and understanding faculty and staff attitudes and opinions toward the project. The methods used in this project included the exploration of secondary data on edible landscaping, field trip to UMass Amherst, interviews with six stakeholders, soil test analysis, plot and plants selection. The results indicated most stakeholders agreed that edible, sustainable landscaping at Clark would increase the institution’s approach to sustainability, foster students’ learning and encourage behavioral change through education, and collaborative partnership. Annual herbs, fruit-bearing shrubs, nutrient accumulating ground cover plants, and some trees are ideal for this type of landscaping. The soil test illustrated that the soil quality at the selected plot is low in important nutrients but lead levels are below hazardous limits so growing edible plants will not be a problem with the addition of compost. With the support of staff and faculty, one plot in Downing Street that is dominated by grass and difficult to mow was selected for this edible landscaping pilot project.
- Edible Landscaping Team at Clark University
