The Keystone Orchard
Thacher becomes greener with less grass.
With the predicted El Niño not quite living up to expectations this year, Thacher continues its efforts to reduce the amount of water it uses. Most recently, the lawn just behind the Head of School's house was replaced with a sustainable permaculture-based orchard including native fruiting elderberry trees. The completed orchard contains 5 fig trees, 6 mulberry trees, 18 elderberry trees, 450 small naturalizing plants and herbs for the pollinators, along with approximately 2,000 flowering bulbs to ensure soil structure integrity and maximum drought tolerance/water efficiency for the whole area.
Additionally, the entire exposed area was covered with layers of recycled cardboard, compost, and mulch—all products either created or recycled by the School—to improve the soil ecology and water holding capabilities. This project will reduce Thacher's water usage for this area by approximately 60 percent—from an estimated 250,000 gallons per year to 100,000 gallons per year.
Jenna Reasor CdeP 2004, assistant director for for landscape design and sustainability projects and overseer of this project commented, "In a few years, we should be able to cease irrigating this area entirely or use the irrigation at an absolute minimum. Maximum water usage once these plants are established is estimated at 60,000 gallons per year, which means that even with maximum water usage for these plants, we will have cut our water usage by 75 percent! And we'll be able to harvest fruit from the orchard and divide the bulbs to use in plantings for other areas of the campus."
Reasor worked closely with students Casey Gaughan '16, Karl Kelly '17, and Cam Twichell '17 on the design and implementation of the project. Included in the design is a winding path through the orchard with many plant information signs to serve as a valuable learning resource for the students.
This project serves as the first big step in transforming Thacher's non-athletic greenspace—a direction that Director of Facilities Ed Bennett is very excited to go. "For me, this project represents the beginning of a transformation of our non-sports and group gathering turf areas," said Bennett. "These turf areas are very water intensive to keep attractive, and we're converting them to an even more attractive and interesting landscape that uses 40 percent less water."
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Additionally, the entire exposed area was covered with layers of recycled cardboard, compost, and mulch—all products either created or recycled by the School—to improve the soil ecology and water holding capabilities. This project will reduce Thacher's water usage for this area by approximately 60 percent—from an estimated 250,000 gallons per year to 100,000 gallons per year.
Jenna Reasor CdeP 2004, assistant director for for landscape design and sustainability projects and overseer of this project commented, "In a few years, we should be able to cease irrigating this area entirely or use the irrigation at an absolute minimum. Maximum water usage once these plants are established is estimated at 60,000 gallons per year, which means that even with maximum water usage for these plants, we will have cut our water usage by 75 percent! And we'll be able to harvest fruit from the orchard and divide the bulbs to use in plantings for other areas of the campus."
Reasor worked closely with students Casey Gaughan '16, Karl Kelly '17, and Cam Twichell '17 on the design and implementation of the project. Included in the design is a winding path through the orchard with many plant information signs to serve as a valuable learning resource for the students.
This project serves as the first big step in transforming Thacher's non-athletic greenspace—a direction that Director of Facilities Ed Bennett is very excited to go. "For me, this project represents the beginning of a transformation of our non-sports and group gathering turf areas," said Bennett. "These turf areas are very water intensive to keep attractive, and we're converting them to an even more attractive and interesting landscape that uses 40 percent less water."
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A college preparatory boarding school for grades 9-12
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