Eagle County to install demonstration garden near main entrance of its administration building
Demonstration garden will feature water- and fire-wise planting
Claire Noble/courtesy photo
A “demonstration garden” at the entrance to the Eagle County building won’t look like much this year, but that’s just the beginning.
The county, in partnership with the Colorado State University Cooperative Extension, the Eagle County Conservation District and Resource Central, in June will tear out nearly 4,200 square feet of grass on the south side of the main entrance to the building and replace that grass with a combination of “rock mulch” — small, chipped rocks — along with shrubs, walking paths and plants from the Cooperative Extension’s Garden in a Box program.
The program will showcase both the Garden in a Box and Beyond Lawn programs, and will highlight how people can landscape in a firewise way. The project will also cut water use by 75% in that irrigation zone.
At a work session this week with the Eagle County Board of Commissioners, county climate programs coordinator Kate Kirkman said the garden is an opportunity to show what can be done with a “xeric” space regarding landscaping. Kirkman added that the garden will provide an opportunity for public education, including signs that indicate what the project is accomplishing.
Commissioner Matt Scherr asked if deer will try to eat the new plants.
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“Deer will try to eat everything,” Kirkman said, adding that eventually plants will become stronger as deer browse on them.
Denyse Schrenker of the extension service noted that deer sleep in the demonstration garden outside that office and don’t seem to cause any major damage.
But the first year won’t look like much. The three-year progress of xeric gardens has been described as “sleep, creep and leap,” with significant growth finally seen in the third year.
“I’m very excited by this,” Commissioner Jeanne McQueeney said, adding that she’s learning all she can about water-efficient gardening, and that she hopes people see the demonstration garden as an opportunity to see what can be done at their homes.
