DSBG director says 'Value what we already have'

Kara Newport thinks a lot about climate change.

That’s one reason Daniel Stowe Botanical Garden’s executive director hasn’t ripped out the decades-old azaleas and dogwood trees from her yard. It’s also a reason she chose a home in Mount Holly that was built in 1919.

“This is my example of how I can work with nature and use the resources that I'm given,” she said. “A new landscape is not necessarily a better landscape.”

Those ideas about placing value on what we already have can work in public gardens such Daniel Stowe, where Newport has worked as director since 2006. She believes those concepts will also be embraced by the American Public Gardens Association, where she is a new board member. The 73-year-old association is taking on climate change through an initiative called Youtopia. 

The association has more than 500 member gardens in 50 states. With close ties to gardeners through organizations such as Charlotte’s Wing Haven and UNC Charlotte Botanical Gardens, the association’s members believe they are in the right place to teach their patrons about climate change and ways that gardeners can help prevent it.

That can start, Newport said, with taking care of the established, well-adapted plants you have rather than using more resources to grow new ones.
Sullivan: http://homelifeclt.blogspot.com and @sullivan_obs on Twitter