Imagine a Garden 3 Feet Wide and Nearly a Half-Mile Long
Now here’s a neat concept that should take root, literally, along roadways across the U.S.: a “linear garden” that provides natural beauty for travelers, educational opportunities for students and, of course, oxygen for all.
It’s more than a concept in Fort Pierce, Florida, where researchers and students have transformed a three-foot-wide, 2,426-foot-long stretch of road into a skinny but beautiful garden featuring nearly 250 different types of trees, palms, shrubs, vines and groundcover plants. Established in September 2005, the linear garden creates year-round color for faculty and students across the street at the University of Florida’s Indian River Research and Education Center (IRREC).
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“The idea originated when existing university gardens, used as teaching labs for students, reached maximum plant capacity,” said Sandra Wilson, associate professor of environmental horticulture at the IRREC. “We needed to find a way to teach students about plants in a limited amount of space, and that need paralleled our community’s interest in enhancing local roadside beautification projects.”
Donations from local nurseries and growers helped the garden get started with everything from allspice, bald cypress and bird of paradise to mahogany, tamarind and wax myrtle. The young but thriving garden of 817 plants in total has since become a subject of study for five different college courses, as well as for local garden club members and general passers-by.
“A linear garden is an efficient, space-saving way to present plants for teaching purposes, and also serves to beautify the roadside throughout the year,” Wilson said.
The IRREC’s Website features more photos of the linear garden, as well as a garden master plan and a full list of all the plants that grow there.
