NEWS
Davidson Garden Club Creates Educational Spaces at Beaty Park
The Davidson Garden Club (DGC), established in 1957, is a local non-profit organization that aims to promote and educate about gardening, offers an annual horticultural symposium to the public, and participates in beautifying Davidson.
In the fall of 2020, DGC partnered with Davidson Lands Conservancy to design and implement multiple recreation and educational spaces at Beaty Park.
Garden club members identified the native plants (trees, shrubs, ground covers, wildflowers, and bog-pond) for the woodlands, wetlands, and pond areas of the park, which can be used to inform future plantings. Members also designed and planted five raised beds that include a medicinal garden, xeriscape and rock garden, monarch butterfly garden, ornamental grasses, and unusual plants for home landscaping, as well as a walkable ‘maze’ with native pollinating plants.
Each garden space has a QR code that links park visitors to information on specific plant species and garden purposes. Additionally, twenty woodland trees have labels and QR codes linking to content on Davidson Lands Conservancy’s website.
More recently, garden club volunteers worked in the park’s wooded spaces to create a number of ‘woodland hut’ structures (similar to a
tepee) from fallen limbs for children to explore and ‘stumpery gardens’ made from decaying wood and native woodland plants like ferns, trilliums, and other treasures. Plans for other park features have been proposed that include a tunnel-like maze, interactive art structure, and swinging bridge.
This fall and winter you will see DGC volunteers nurturing the flower beds to finish this year’s installations.
The Davidson Garden Club is proud to be one of many organizations that has volunteered time and resources to Beaty Park. Others include Trane Technologies, Williams Companies, Friends of Beaty Park, Community School of Davidson, DCPC Day of Service, Bartlett Tree Experts, and NC State Shelton Leaders.
We welcome you to follow our efforts on Instagram.
And the theme for this year’s Spring Symposium is now on our website.
