CNT Native Garden Comes to Life
The Virginia Bluebells were the first to spring to life this season in CNT’s native garden. And it won’t be long until tall beauties like Wild Columbine and Golden Alexander and ground-dwellers like Blood Root and Wild Ginger follow. The garden serves as a habitat for monarch butterflies, milkweed bugs, downy woodpeckers, and even a Ruby-crowned Kinglet.
CNT’s native garden is not only a sanctuary for wildlife; it’s functional too. The garden captures the buildings stormwater runoff. Plants soak up and use the stormwater so it does not runoff the property, keeping our bodies of water cleaner, and also take in carbon dioxide and let out oxygen, reducing the heat-island effect around the building and contributing to cleaner air.
The garden is low-maintenance, not requiring any more watering than what it gets from rainwater. The soil is maintained by a compost of organic material like banana peels and coffee grounds from staff. The garden was created when CNT renovated the building in 2000 and was an integral part of it achieving LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) Platinum status.
To take a tour contact annette@cnt.org.
