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4. Experimental Garden

The newest addition to the HMC landscape, an experimental native plant garden, was created as an addition to our original project goals. As a team, we are excited to follow in the footsteps of the original Harvey Mudd students and faculty, who

...appreciated the fact that the college needed help with campus clearing and landscaping. The first freshman class, before instruction began, spent an afternoon clearing the center strip of the new section of Twelfth Street. (Part of the motivation may have been to make our campus more attractive to the young women of Scripps College.) Later that year our students approached Mr. and Mrs. Garner... who contributed several sycamore trees; the students transplanted them to the courtyard of the initial dormitory.... When the third dormitory was approved, an old barn stood on part of the required plot; student volunteers removed it. As our first class graduated, its members presented the college with another tree as their class gift. In short, our early faculty and students did improve our landscaping, without professional direction.... (Platt, 51).

The spirit of community participation described in this passage from former college president Joseph Platt's history of Harvey Mudd College is an inspiration to the Landscaping Clinic team.

4.1. Motivation

In the fall semester, at the suggestion of our liaison President Strauss, the team created an experimental plot of plants adapted to the American Southwest. The motivation for designing and implementing this plot was to give the school a concrete example of a regionally adapted landscape, to make a non-functional piece of land more attractive and useful, and to provide a regionally appropriate experimental plot for analysis. The plot provides a unique opportunity in that it enables us to analyze a natural landscape from its inception.

4.2. Description

The test plot is a 26' 120' piece of land located just east of the Garrett House. Originally, it was a plot of dirt with two sycamore trees located at the northern end. A plan was constructed for the layout of the plot (Figure 4.2.1).

Just to the east of our plot, Pitzer College has also planted native species. We used some of the same plant palette to promote continuity of the two landscapes. We constructed a plan that includes a dry streambed to direct runoff away from the plants and to provide good drainage for the plants. We dug a trench that gradually sloped from 6" to 3' along what appeared to be the natural flow line of runoff down the plot and lined it with rocks. The plot was equipped with a drip irrigation system (materials from Modern Irrigation, installed by the grounds crew) and a water meter to record all water usage for the plot. Two benches will be placed under the sycamores to make the area inviting as well as attractive. In addition, an interpretive sign will be installed to educate the public on the benefits of our garden.

A total of 42 plants (Table 4.2.1) were purchased from the Rancho Santa Ana Botanic Garden and planted in our experimental plot. A few plants were later donated to the garden by RSABG to replace plants that had died. All the plants in the garden are adapted to the dry Southwest climate, only needing supplemental water during the summer months (once established). All are native to California except Salvia greggii, which is native to Texas and Mexico and Salvia chamaedryoides, which is native to Mexico. Additionally they have attractive features to wildlife, which we hope to draw to the plot. Using Complete Land Designer 6.0 (Sierra Home) we constructed a map of the test plot that could be aged over time. A projection of what the plot may look like in 7 years can be seen in Figure 4.2.2.

Figure 4.2.2. Projected appearance of test plot after 7 years.

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