Take a tour of ASU's unique, sustainable gardens
At ASU, sustainability is more than a buzzword: it's put into practice every day and each campus serves as a "living laboratory" for sustainability. On the Tempe campus, there are a variety of beautiful and unique gardens that exemplify ASU’s effort to incorporate the principles of sustainability into its physical environment. Join us for a tour.
Above: Located in front of the Computing Commons is the Computer Garden, which resembles a computer's motherboard.
Formerly a flat, barren patch of gravel used for parking ASU service vehicles, student and staff volunteers contracted the garden using repurposed sprinkler pipe and donated cactus.
The Herb Garden is planted outside of the Student Services building and contains herbs such as basil and mint, as well as tomato plants, bell peppers and eggplant.
The Herb Garden is maintained by Arboretum volunteers, students from the Sustainability House at Barrett and the gardening club, ASU Grow. The garden represents one component of the ASU Local Foods Initiative, a Facilities Management program to harvest and use the edible food that is grown on campus.
The University Club, one of ASU’s dining establishments, uses the herbs grown in the garden in many of its dishes.
Located outside of the Matthews Center is the Sonoran Desert Garden, which uses reclaimed cactus and creative rock piles.
The Desert Garden, which was previously trampled by vehicles, was designed as a practical way to create beauty out of what was an eyesore.
ASU's Zen Garden is located in front of the Social Science building. The garden was constructed over buried utility lines that stunted the root growth of most things planted there.
The granite boulders in ASU's Zen Garden were rescued from Mariposa Hall when it was torn down and the compost is from wood chipping from the Tempe campus.
At first glance, the moving spout of the deer-chaser fountain appears to be bamboo, but it's really a section of plastic pipe that has been painted to resemble bamboo.
ASU's Community Garden, located north of Hayden Library, allows students and Arboretum volunteers to collaborate and grow organic vegetables.
The Sonoran desert growing season are very different from cooler climates and participants learn what varieties do best during the appropriate season throughout the year.
Some of the produce from the Community Garden is used in campus kitchens and at Engrained Café in exchange for a donation to the Friends of the Arboretum at ASU.
Learn more about Sustainability@ASU and how you can help at: http://sustainability.asu.edu/practice.