Three new Native Plant Teaching Gardens at Friends

If you have visited campus lately, you may have noticed the newest additions to our Native Plant Teaching Gardens. On the southwest corner, the two gardens between the James L. Zamoiski ’68 Alumni Center and the Head of School's House use stone and fallen oak trees to connect visually to the rest of the School grounds and provide a safer walking path from Boxhill Lane to campus. The third garden runs along the Upper School and mirrors the Middle School garden across from it.

In addition to being beautiful, using native plants is good for the environment – they require less water, provide habitat for wildlife, and on our campus, filter stormwater run-off from Northern Parkway and Charles Street before entering Stony Run stream, which feeds into the Chesapeake Bay. We are grateful to the donors and many volunteers who make the Friends School Native Plant Teaching Gardens possible!  

About the Native Plant Teaching Gardens: Created through a partnership with Guilford Garden Club (GGC), our award-winning native plant gardens attract pollinators and provide food for migrating birds, making them ideal for plant, insect, and ornithology studies. Schoolwide plantings and clean-up days offer students opportunities to work alongside GGC experts, who share their knowledge of native grasses and flowers.