Science centers regularly incorporate sustainable practices into their operations, educational programs, and exhibits. This week, the Science Museum of Virginia, Richmond, is planting a BayScapes Garden on its front lawn, making landscaping and maintenance a greener process while at the same time creating a new outdoor exhibit that visitors can explore.
The garden, developed in partnership with the Alliance for the Chesapeake Bay, covers one-seventh of an acre and will feature a crushed stone walking path and explanatory signs for visitors. The garden’s native plants were chosen to allow the museum to cut back on watering and their use of chemical pesticides and fertilizer and will not require mowing by gas-powered equipment. The plants also will reduce runoff into the nearby James River watershed that feeds the Chesapeake Bay.
About the image: Volunteers and staff plant the new BayScapes Garden. Photo courtesy Science Museum of Virginia