Hamilton Garden (Hamilton, New Zealand)

On Thursday we visited Hamilton Garden in Hamilton, New Zealand. This garden is like no other garden in that it has sections dedicated to different aspects of nature. We saw representative art and sculptures, and even a sustainable garden in which no life form is taken for granted. There is a worm bed, a potpourri area, and so much more. The garden is maintained partly by the local horticulture students at the nearby university. This type of community and nature co-involvement is what I think will help facilitate more sustainable environments back in the states.

I take my neighborhood as a prime example of the focus not being on implementing more sustainable ideas in the community. Our homeowners association would rather us waste our drinking water and the energy used to supply it in order to keep the grass green. It would make more environmental and economic sense to let the grass that's native to the area grow in our yards. Then we could install a rainwater harvesting technology that could be used to irrigate a neighborhood garden with the same concepts as Hamilton Garden. I believe a park and neighborhood garden with walking and bicycle trails would be a much more aesthetic and eco-friendly use of the common areas.

I plan to offer this suggestion when I return home to Ft. Worth, but I fear the proposal will fall upon deaf ears. I will post whether the idea will even make it to the voting table.

As with every other location we’ve visited, this garden emphasizes recycling, low water and energy consumption, and no littering.