Pierce College’s two acre Botanical Garden, nestled between classrooms and soccer fields, is a place to breathe easy and enjoy nature. The garden is home to over 600 species of plants and countless numbers of animals. Walking through the garden is captivating. Students can spot anything from sunbathing turtles and nesting hummingbirds to butterflies relaxing in the shade. Each step brings them closer to nature. (Courtesy of Doreen Clay and Pierce College)
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By Courtney Hayden April 25, 2012
From morning classes to papers to exams, students lead stressful. At Pierce College, in Woodland Hills, California, studying is no longer synonymous with days spent holed up indoors pining for sunshine. When students need a break, they can easily walk to the two-acre oasis in the center of campus!
Pierce College’s two-acre botanical garden, nestled between classrooms and soccer fields, is a place to breathe easy and enjoy nature. The garden is home to over 600 species of plants and many animals. Walking through the garden is captivating, from sunbathing turtles and nesting hummingbirds to butterflies relaxing in the shade. Every step brings students closer to nature.
The garden’s benefits are being continuously realized by professors and students alike. Classes in horticulture and biology are using the garden as a “living laboratory.” On any given day, students can be seen searching through books and eyeing growth for plant identification coursework.
The garden replaced an expansive and shadeless lawn which students and wildlife alike avoided. The new garden, designed to be half exclusively native and half drought resistant, consumes 70% less water than the lawn required! Within the two acres not a single chemical, insecticide, or herbicide is applied. In the words of Keith Peabody, instructional assistant to horticulture, “Insects and birds maintain the garden.”
In many ways, Keith’s hard work has made the Botanical Garden the masterpiece it is today. He dedicates twenty hours a week to weeding, watering and planting: his efforts allow wildlife and students to relax in a hidden gem of green space. He works with nature, often starting with seedlings and allowing a species to populate itself. His work is breathtaking– from Catalina cherries and olives, red mountain sage, golden barrel cactus, butterfly blush and Wollemi pine to Tasmanian flax lilies and the pink spider flower. The botanical garden at Pierce College is beautiful and environmentally conscientious.
For related articles, see: Los Angeles Youth Plant Seeds of Sustainbility and Social Justice Flower and Garden Show Inspires Green Growers
© 2012 SCGH, LLC.
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