Trident Technical College’s horticultural students designed new gardens this summer in collaboration with Charleston Parks Conservation. Charleston Parks Conservancy Charleston Park Department was established in 2006 to assist the city. City parks serve as a gateway for visitors, as well as a rest for the community. Vegetation has healing powers.
The conservation operates 20 out of 127 Charleston parks. The parks include places such as Rose Pavilion in Hampton Park. The consortium is based on a strong group of volunteers called Park Angels to organize community events, concerts and educational opportunities. Up to 300 Park Angels donate their time decorating Charleston’s green spaces.
However, they are not just planting flowers and weed beds. Edible gardens are found in Magnolia, Corre Jones, and Midway Parks. Each park has 60 high beds available to the public. Each plot costs $ 50 for the growing season, and that includes fertilizer, water, and instructions. Each site is designed and developed by Clemson Architecture students and is used for storage and harvesting. When most participants grow vegetables, anything can be planted as long as it is not invasive and legal.
There are more gardens in the three parks, which are ruled by angels. The harvest from these community farms is provided to food warehouses. Donations averaged 3,500 pounds a year. That is about $ 2 per square foot.
Charleston Parks Protection takes place in Charleston Parks and relies on a strong group of volunteers called Park Angels. Tony Bertuxi / Presented
Program Director Leslie Wade feels that edible gardens are more connected to the public. Tomatoes and eggplants are more familiar and scary than bees and beekeepers. And I totally agree. I had been driving Magnolia Park several times before I learned it was run by conservatives, and I never lost sight of it.
So I was involved in these wonderful areas with great joy and happiness. Each summer, the Trident Garden Development Program offers a landscape design section that includes a business project. Students use design software to create a plan drawing. You will also learn imaging software to create a three-dimensional image of what their design looks like.
We met with Tom McGuire, the general manager. Leslie Wade, program director, and Courtney Olsen, community gardener and educator, to find out how gardens are used in Midway Park and Magolia Park and what standards are most important. In each park we were assigned to design, there were two underdeveloped areas. Based on this interview, students analyzed indigenous plants, edible gardens, pollen-friendly plants, educational opportunities, and recreational potential.
Each student began with a preliminary design to organize a ground plane with a list of possible plant choices and hardpeck ideas. This requires everyone’s favorite activity – speaking in front of the class. One of the most important aspects of this laboratory, apart from public speaking, was to criticize each other’s ideas. What didn’t work? What makes design better?
Students use design software to develop a master plan. As pen and paper are drawn, changes are a cake. You can draw all the flow lines your heart desires, but duplicating those ideas with a mouse and a mouse is a completely different sport. First, the learning curve is steep, but it is worth it. Once they are qualified, they are throwing in signs and tags in the time it takes to draw by hand. And subsequent changes are made with just a few clicks instead of a few conclusions.
Students prepare an in-depth PowerPoint presentation and rehearse in front of the class for another critical session. Finally, they are ready to deliver. The good people at Charleston Park Conservancy hosted an amazing session full of wonderful ideas.
Visit www.charlestonparksconservancy.org for more information on activities and volunteer opportunities at the Charleston Parks Conservancy.
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