Sustainability Topics
Saturday, June 18th, 2011
On a pleasant spring day in the final week of April, the foundations were laid for the fourth green roof at Swarthmore College. Whilst merry old England was celebrating the just completed nuptials of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge (Will and Kate), gardeners at the Scott Arboretum were mobilizing for the arrival of some heavy equipment. A large crane was carefully maneuvered into a small parking lot and immediately employed to deliver pallets of materials skyward to the long anticipated Wister Center green roof.
The Wister Center green roof has earned a special place in the hearts of arboretum …
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Monday, December 13th, 2010
By Erin Curtis, Student Organic Lawn Coordinator
The Arboretum recently achieved another step in the transition to an organic lawn maintenance program for Mertz field. We had a demonstration of the “AERA-vator” aeration machine, which loosens highly compacted soil to induce root growth in plants and facilitate nutrient dispersal in the soil. This is a crucial step included in the protocol from our consultant, Eric T. Fleisher. Before our first batch of compost tea is applied, we need to loosen the soil so that the liquid can penetrate further and facilitate microbial activity deep into the root zone.
Not only …
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Thursday, September 23rd, 2010
by Alisa Giardinelli, Communications Office of Swarthmore College
The Scott Arboretum’s Wister Education Center and Greenhouse which opened last fall, recently received gold LEED certification for new construction from the U.S. Green Building Council. The award – which identifies the Center as a “pioneering example of sustainable design” – is the culmination of an effort that began during the earliest stages of the project.
“I feel a real sense of pride that the educational and horticultural work of the Arboretum is housed in a way that exemplifies beautiful and sustainable design and a sensible use of resources,” says Scott Arboretum …
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