Children's Discovery Trail

The Discovery Trail is a presentation of the various parts of the garden ecosystem and how this ecosystem can affect our lives. The trail is a series of student class projects which depict many of the interacting players in the garden. Exhibits discuss the plants, how they grow, the benefits of the pigments and other chemicals that they produce and how they can be medicinal as well as nutritional in nature. Other exhibits discuss how we improve plants and the role that gardeners have traditionally played as "plant breeders" Three large displays focus on the three basic types of ecosystems, xeric or dry ecosystem, mesic or moist ecosystem and hydric or wet ecosystem. Soil is vital to the health of the garden and so several exhibits discuss the soil, soil organisms, composting and vermicomposting, plant nutrition and the garden underground. A number of exhibits discuss the wildlife in the garden and how to attract desirable forms of wildlife, such as butterflies, beneficial insects, birds, reptiles, amphibia and mammals. One section of the trail is an active organic garden and explains some of the many beneficial interaction that go on in the garden ecosystem that help reduce the use of synthetic pesticides and synthetic fertilizers.