Native Plant Gardens

UArizona student members of the Ecological Restoration club, HydroCats, and Compost Cats will establish drought-tolerant, fast-growing native plant gardens across campus to replace 25 parcels of bare ground or lawn that contribute to the urban heat island effect, subsequently reducing locally raised temperatures by up to 8° and reducing the energetic need for local building air conditioning. Water savings of up to 100% are also projected in the gardens one year following installation. These gardens will improve school sustainability by conserving water and energy while also providing a diversity of vital floral resources to local pollinators, including the critically endangered monarch butterfly, and beautifying the campus. Students will be educated about the gardens' importance through signage and outreach.

The project expects that installation of a large number of gardens and the replacement of lawns with native plant gardens will reduce water need in these areas by 75-95%. This is because native plants in our region typically have much deeper root structures than grasses that makeup lawns, allowing natives to gather water stored at deeper sources and store the water for longer periods of time. Gardens will also replace heat attracting bare soil to eventually reduce the so-called urban heat island effect, subsequently reducing locally raise temperatures by as much as 8°F. This can ultimately lead to a reduction in peak electricity load across campus (e.g. air conditioning) by almost 5%.

Each garden will have a permanent sign that briefly explains the garden function and, with a QR code, directs the viewer to an information page about sustainability. The signage will function a permanent outreach tool to anyone walking by the gardens. We expect the permanent signage to significantly increase knowledge and awareness of sustainability to a huge number of UArizona students, faculty and staff.

Local indigenous enthnobotanists will be invited to provide information about native plant uses through outreach events as well as provide input on plant selection and landscaping techniques. Members of the Ecological Restoration club, Compost Cats and HydroCats will be encouraged to write blog posts about the gardens and submit these to on campus publications such as Lo Que Pasa to enhance communication of the gardens to the larger UArizona community. Photos taken of the gardens will also be posted on twitter and Instagram and will tag the UArizona Office of Sustainability and the University in general when appropriate. Finally, outreach activities open to the UArizona community, such as compost making and seedball making will be organized at least once a semester during the three year cycle of the grant. Events will occur at or near at least one of the gardens. These events will not only provide novel educational transfer opportunities for the UArizona community, but hosting these events at the gardens will provide additional opportunity for attendees to learn about the gardens and how they relate to sustainability.