News Release

Botanical garden receives $20,000 grant
to enhance site, create research nursery

CHAPEL HILL – The North Carolina Botanical Garden at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill recently was awarded a $20,000 grant to be used for site enhancements and the establishment of a research nursery.

The grant, from the Stanley Smith Horticultural Trust, will be used at the Botany Pond area of the Mason Farm Biological Reserve. The garden’s newly established native plant evaluation and selection program will be the focal point of the new nursery facility. The site also will support the garden’s seed program and will provide space for growing larger specimens to be added to display collections.

"This is very exciting and work that is much needed," said Dr. Andrew Bell, associate director of the garden. "We plan to conduct seed germination studies to enhance our ability to propagate and grow native plants. The garden is launching new programs in seed collection and propagation and evaluating native plants for introduction into the nursery and landscape industries."

This is the first time the garden has received a grant from the Stanley Smith Horticultural Trust, which is committed to supporting programs in education and research of ornamental horticulture. The grant money will be partially matched with garden funds to make renovations to an existing greenhouse at the gardens and to install an irrigation system and shade structure for research and plant evaluations.

The research nursery will continue to serve UNC faculty and graduate students as a site for field studies, while garden staff explore seed germination and look for plants that are more resistant to diseases and insects and that are more adaptable to urban and sustainable landscapes.

Mason Farm Biological Reserve is located southeast of the North Carolina Botanical Garden’s main visitor site, off Mason Farm Road. It protects natural areas, supports academic research and public education, and is a place for contemplation and appreciation of the natural world. Other undeveloped tracts contiguous with the reserve effectively create an approximately 900-acre natural area that connects with the 41,000-acre New Hope Game Lands to the south.

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(Jim Walsh, a junior journalism and mass communication major from Winston-Salem, wrote this release for UNC News Services.)

Note: Contact Bell at (919) 962-9457.

N.C. Botanical Garden contact: Laura Cotterman, (919) 962-0522 or lmcotter@unc.edu
News Services contact: Deb Saine, (919) 962-8415 or deborah_saine@unc.edu