Spring has arrived, and the greenery on campus has begun to flourish and bloom as the weather warms. Students pass flower beds and oak trees every day, but what they don’t often see are the gardens hidden on the rooftops of the Science and Engineering Buildings or the Student Garden tucked behind the Career Education Building.
The gardens have been taken care of for the last nine years by Vikki Mitchell, the lead gardener at Marshall’s Sustainability Department. Mitchell primarily works in the greenhouse in front of the Science Building and the student garden.
The first Green Roof is located on the second floor of the Science Building, inaccessible to students and mostly self-sustaining from rainwater. It’s a small patch of green with spots of purple, blue and red flowers. It is mainly a mix of native Appalachian and West Virginian plants like miniature irises, columbine flowers and coral bells.
The Glenn Garden Experimental Green Roof is the second garden located on the third floor of the Engineering Building. The water from the roof drainage system is recycled as the water used in one of the restrooms.
The garden spans across a large section of the roof with different sections containing orange, yellow, green and red succulents, but it does occasionally grow different things and is used as a lab for horticulture students.
“One time, I went up to the Engineering Building and found these pine trees growing,” Mitchell said.
The greenhouse is the largest source of plants on campus with donations often being given to local community gardens and accepted by the greenhouse from other departments. With over five rooms with a large variety of plants from succulents, cacti, pine trees and flowers, the greenhouse yields both physical results and mental serenity.
“I’ve always told students this is a place of calm. If you want to come in and eat your lunch, do your homework or just get away from people, come in,” Mitchell said. “It takes out a lot of the stress and anxiety, so that you might be able to go face that class or professor.”
In the Student Garden, Mitchell said she tries to grow a variety of vegetables and other produce that students can enjoy.
“What’s nice is it’s free, so when it’s market day, students can take however much they want,” she said. “I try to grow things that students would like or that you can’t always get in a grocery store, like a specific type of pepper or eggplant.”
On market days, which are weekly on Wednesdays from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. in the Memorial Student Center, students can take home produce that was grown in the garden. Market days typically start in late April and last through October or November when produce is ready to be harvested.
Not only can students get free produce and plants from various events done by the Sustainability Department, but they can also get involved by volunteering to help with the gardens.
“I always ask, ‘Are you afraid to get dirty?’ Mitchell said. Current student volunteers do anything from pulling weeds, digging, planting, watering and other maintenance tasks around the gardens.
“Your classes come first,” Mitchell said. “If you have time and want to come over to the greenhouse, that’s great.”
Davina Snyder can be contacted at [email protected].
