Many of our improvement projects are designed to solve existing problems, such as drainage or circulation. But our goal is not just to solve the problems, but rather to solve them in a creative manner. Such is the case in the parking/entrance drive area of the Hahn Pavilion. Here are some of the problems that we encountered there:
To solve these problems, we have proposed a new garden space that will provide a handicap accessible walkway that begins in one of the parking bays and extends into and through the garden space. At one point, the walkway becomes a bridge that crosses over a depressed area doubling as a ‘rain garden’ intended to alleviate the drainage problem.
This entry garden is meant to:
The cost of materials for the Entry Garden were paid for by a generous gift from Mike and Pat Hyer. The garden was built and installed by these classes:
Paul Chumbley and Lisa Lipsey of the Hahn staff have been working closely with the classes.
Click here to see a short video produced in SketchUp that gives an impression of what the garden will look like once completed.
The annual beds on Washington Street have been a big hit with campus visitors. While no auto accidents have been reported on Washington Street due to passersby being distracted by the colors, the line to get pictures taken with the plants has been significant.
As part of their class project, the Department of Horticulture course in Landscape Construction (Hort 3544) placed new pavers on the bridge. Over time the asphalt walkway had subsided so that whenever it rained, there was standing water on the bridge for several days afterward. New grades were set, the right amount of fill was brought in and voilà!--drainage problem solved! And it looks great too!
The pavers on the bridge match those of the Patio Garden and the walkway connecting it to the Allee Walk. These pavers will be the standard for new and renovated walks throughout the Garden.
As funding allows, we order and install plant labels in the garden. They are made of black aluminum with silver letters, produced by Lark Labels out of Wichita, Kansas. They are guaranteed to last the life of the plant. Eventually all the labels in the garden will be replaced with these new ones.
Installed by our Landscape Construction class (Hort 3544), this new roundabout creates an open space along the Allee where several paths converge. It is the newest roundabout in the Garden and becomes part of the standard paving pattern for new walks in the Garden.
