Through its progressive strategies for irrigation and buildings operation, the Garden is a regional leader in water efficiency. Some examples of technology reducing the Garden’s water needs within its operations include:
Water Efficiency
Irrigation
- The use of an on-site weather station at the Kemper Center to monitor the Garden’s micro-climate and employ maximally-efficient irrigation schedules
- Installation of maximum efficiency irrigation controllers and heads which use 30 percent less water than traditional heads
- Use of surface and subsurface drip irrigation where it is more efficient than sprinklers
Buildings
- High efficiency plumbing and waterless urinals at the Commerce Bank Center for Science Education: one of the first installations of this device in a St. Louis business
- The Garden performs an economic assessment for the installation of high-efficiency plumbing before any new restroom renovations.
- Cooling towers operate as part of buildings’ upgraded HVAC systems, which are managed for maximum efficiency
Water Conservation
As an exemplary leader in sustainable gardening practices, the Garden is committed to managing its use of chemicals responsibly to avoid polluting our waterways.
- Garden staff limits and tracks the use of fertilizers, herbicides and pesticides as well as the magnesium chloride and sand used to treat ice on parking lots and paths.
- The Garden exclusively uses cleaning products that are Green Seal-certified.
- Cooling towers are managed with minimal amounts of biocide to control algae.
The Garden’s attention to stormwater issues makes it a model for businesses throughout the region.
- At the Ridgway Center, parking lots are engineered with pervious pavement and bioretention areas to retain 50 percent of overall stormwater in a typical St. Louis weather event. Additionally, 50 percent of the stormwater which falls on the Monsanto Center is captured on site.
- The Garden has done extensive research on stormwater BMPs and offers resources and guides for homeowners to install their own rainscaping.