Student Center Garden
This garden was planted in the fall of 2010 by an Environmental Science class. Previously, the site was regularly mowed and the bank’s slope posed erosion concerns. In addition, the large concrete sewer access cover was an eyesore. The students reduced the environmental impact of the lawn by planting a low-mow, drought-tolerant grass seed. The students planted hardy, creeping groundcovers (moss phlox, creeping juniper, and bearberry) to reduce erosion on the bank. Art students designed and painted a clever pond theme, involving children from Massasoit’s Children’s Center to provide interest to the concrete cover. Finally, the students planted a wildflower border for seasonal interest and color. The border has a naturalistic design but has slightly more structure due to the limited number of plants and a narrow color theme. The biggest issue the garden faces today is damage, such as scraping by snow plows and salt spray, after heavy snowfall.
The following plants are in the Student Center Garden:
Lawn
- Pearl’s Premium
Bank
- Moss phlox (Phlox subulata)
- Creeping juniper (Juniperus horizontalis)
- Bearberry (Arctostaphylos uva-ursi)
Wildflower border
- Blazing star (Liatris spp.)
- Bowman’s root (Porteranthus trifoliatus)
- Eastern bluestar (Amsonia tabernaemontana)
- New England aster ‘Purple Dome’
- Prairie dropseed (Sporobulus heterolepis)
- Appalachian sedge (Carex appalachica)