Last April, the Pearson House garden underwent serious renovation with the help of the Webster Environmentalist Coalition (WEC). Although a few weeds sprung up and the ivy overtook part of the space, these efforts were not in vain, as the garden is now flourishing in many different ways.
The WEC put together a student-volunteer workforce last year to refurbish the garden behind Pearson House. During their initial refurbishment, the WEC planted native honeysuckle, cliff goldenrod, several varieties of coneflower, and a native wildflower seed mix. They also planted marigolds, which are great flowers for attracting pollinators.
Many of the new additions dried up or were taken over by invasive weeds, but plans are already in shape to add new life to the patch once again. Jack Farish, the coalition’s treasurer, said that the upkeep was rough over the summer, as they didn’t have many people to take care of the newly remodeled plant beds.
“For the most part, we just kind of watered and made sure the plants stayed alive so they weren’t starting back at square one,” Farish said.
At the beginning of August, the coalition took action to maintain the state of the garden. Pulling weeds was among the efforts, but the most notable addition was planting more native wildflowers so that they would be blooming by the time students were present on campus. Club President Inma Cepeda wants the space to be a welcoming environment for everyone at Webster University.
“It’s a community project that we can share together,” Cepeda said. “Having that space of comfort for the students and you get hands in the ground.”
The wildflowers are a beautiful sight, but they also serve a purpose. Farish said that he plans to add wildflowers to much of the gardened area.
“[The wildflowers] suppress weeds from coming up…. if you just have bare soil lying there, that soil isn’t having any organic material added to it, and so it’s kind of dying,” Farish said. “It’s not very good soil. So having those wildflowers going there improves the soil while also suppressing weeds and just makes for a cleaner looking garden.”
The main goals of the project were to care for the environment, learn about nature, create a peaceful spot for students to study or hangout on campus and to feed students. Farish described the garden as an “outdoor lab,” a place to learn about the environment in general as well as more in-depth studies. In addition to this, it already has some flourishing tomato and jalapeño plants, ready to be picked by any student who wishes to do so.
“I think the garden really matched the club’s goals,” Cepeda said. “I’m really happy for Jack who proposed that project.”
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