U.S. Botanic Garden's Bartholdi Park

Achieves SITES Gold Certification
by Adapted from the United States Botanic Garden Website

Created in 1932 when the U.S. Botanic Garden was relocated, the park was renamed in 1985 after Frederic Auguste Bartholdi, the sculptor of the historic fountain located at its center.

A variety of native plant materials, including this coneflower (Echinacea sp.), a native perennial, attract bees and other pollinators like this Painted Lady butterfly.

A variety of native plant materials, including this coneflower (Echinacea sp.), a native perennial, attract bees and other pollinators like this Painted Lady butterfly.

Kitchen Garden in Bartholdi Park features mustard seed (pictured), corn and lettuce.

Kitchen Garden in Bartholdi Park features mustard seed, corn (pictured) and lettuce.

Kitchen Garden in Bartholdi Park features mustard seed, corn and lettuce (pictured).

The Rain Garden fulfills its purpose by collecting and filtering rainwater as seen here during a rain storm.

Meeting SITES requirement for recycling materials, new furniture here is made from local white oak that fell during a storm.

The gas lamps made the fountain a popular destination in the 1880s as one of the first attractions in the nation's capital to be brightly illuminated at night.

Among the many plant materials found in the garden is this Franklinia alatamaha.

Originally, the beds in Bartholdi Park were geometrically arranged and planted in formal classical style to feature the fountain and to accommodate public gatherings. The plantings have been redesigned during the last decade and are continuously updated to reflect modern trends in American horticulture and new plant introductions. In the foreground is red Hibiscus.

Bartholdi Park is now a SITES Gold certified project (l-r) Saharah Moon Chapotin, USBG exec. director; Thomas Crawley, Bartholdi Park gardener; Ray Mims, USBG sustainability horticulturalist; Jamie Statter, VP of SITES, U.S. Green Building Council; Darron Damone, Andropogon Landscape Architects; Emily Janka, AOC planning and project mgmt jurisdiction exec.; and Jason Curtis, SITES AP, Andropogon.

Jamie Statter (right), VP of SITES, U.S. Green Building Council presents the SITES certification plaque to Saharah Moon Chapotin (left), exec. director of U.S. Botanic Garden

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Created in 1932 when the U.S. Botanic Garden was relocated, the park was renamed in 1985 after Frederic Auguste Bartholdi, the sculptor of the historic fountain located at its center.

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A variety of native plant materials, including this coneflower (Echinacea sp.), a native perennial, attract bees and other pollinators like this Painted Lady butterfly.

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A variety of native plant materials, including this coneflower (Echinacea sp.), a native perennial, attract bees and other pollinators like this Painted Lady butterfly.

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Kitchen Garden in Bartholdi Park features mustard seed (pictured), corn and lettuce.

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Kitchen Garden in Bartholdi Park features mustard seed, corn (pictured) and lettuce.

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Kitchen Garden in Bartholdi Park features mustard seed, corn and lettuce (pictured).

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The Rain Garden fulfills its purpose by collecting and filtering rainwater as seen here during a rain storm.

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Meeting SITES requirement for recycling materials, new furniture here is made from local white oak that fell during a storm.

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The gas lamps made the fountain a popular destination in the 1880s as one of the first attractions in the nation's capital to be brightly illuminated at night.

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Among the many plant materials found in the garden is this Franklinia alatamaha.

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Originally, the beds in Bartholdi Park were geometrically arranged and planted in formal classical style to feature the fountain and to accommodate public gatherings. The plantings have been redesigned during the last decade and are continuously updated to reflect modern trends in American horticulture and new plant introductions. In the foreground is red Hibiscus.

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Bartholdi Park is now a SITES Gold certified project (l-r) Saharah Moon Chapotin, USBG exec. director; Thomas Crawley, Bartholdi Park gardener; Ray Mims, USBG sustainability horticulturalist; Jamie Statter, VP of SITES, U.S. Green Building Council; Darron Damone, Andropogon Landscape Architects; Emily Janka, AOC planning and project mgmt jurisdiction exec.; and Jason Curtis, SITES AP, Andropogon.

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Jamie Statter (right), VP of SITES, U.S. Green Building Council presents the SITES certification plaque to Saharah Moon Chapotin (left), exec. director of U.S. Botanic Garden

Just across Independence Avenue from the U.S. Botanic Garden Conservatory is a favorite "secret" garden of many Washingtonians, a refuge from the stresses of the city. Secluded benches offer quiet shade in the summer and sheltered sunlight in the winter. Every type of plant is represented in the Park - deciduous trees, evergreens, shrubs, perennials, annuals, vines, ground covers, roses and bulbs. In every season, the colors and textures of the plants and flowers are exhilarating.

Created in 1932, Bartholdi Park, at the United States Botanic Garden (USBG), has served as a demonstration garden for more than 87 years and until 2016 had not undergone a complete renovation since its original construction. The much-needed renovation provided an opportunity to increase accessibility, showcase the Sustainable SITES Initiative (SITES) principles in action, and demonstrate USBG's commitment to sustainability. Now that the renovation of the park is complete, the new garden is a showcase of sustainable gardening, having achieved SITES Gold certification for its sustainability strategies and becoming the first project in Washington, D.C., to be certified under SITES version 2. (See SITES Sidebar, page below)



Renovation plans focused on SITES's key areas: water, soil, plants, materials, and human health:

Water: Ten rain gardens capture 100 percent of rainfall on the site and allow it to soak into the ground, diverting runoff from D.C.'s combined sewer system. The rain gardens can accept up to 4,000 cubic feet of water in a 24-hour storm event - equivalent to 256 bathtubs of water. The project also used permeable paving and reduced the amount of impervious surface.

Plants: The gardens in Bartholdi Park showcase plants native to the Mid-Atlantic region and a collection of edible plants in permanent and seasonal plantings in a new kitchen garden. The project team was able to save multiple large trees and shrubs on site; other plants were reused on Capitol Hill and in D.C. Public Schools.

Soil: During the renovation, topsoil was removed, saved off-site, amended with organic compost and returned to the park for the new plantings. In areas where plants were saved, the soil was also protected from compaction.

Materials: Existing concrete sidewalks were crushed and then used as the base layer under the new sidewalks. Previous stone walls were disassembled and their stones were reused in the new walls for the raised kitchen garden. Flagstone from previous pathways was also salvaged to create new paths. For the park's locally sourced furniture, a Virginia company built seating and tables from white oaks that had fallen naturally during a storm.

Human Health: The park connects people to nature through programming that includes yoga and nature-in-motion walks. Additional seating, a water fountain, and bicycle parking were added. Tours and signage explain the sustainable features, providing inspiration for how to apply these principles at home. The creation of the American Veterans Disabled for Life Memorial next door to the park presented an opportunity to collaborate with the National Park Service, and educational and therapeutic programs for veterans and active duty soldiers were developed and now use this space.

"USBG has championed SITES since our initial work in helping develop the program more than a decade ago. We are excited to now have Bartholdi Park as a living example of a sustainably designed garden right in the middle of Washington, D.C.," said Saharah Moon Chapotin, executive director, USBG.

The story of the renovated Bartholdi Park is shared through new interpretive signage throughout the park. "Bartholdi Park's sustainable development serves as a model for communities looking to build a healthy and prosperous future for residents and visitors," said Mahesh Ramanujam, president and CEO, USGBC and GBCI.

 

 

The U.S. Botanic Garden is open to the public, free of charge, every day of the year from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. The Conservatory is located at 100 Maryland Ave. SW, on the southwest side of the U.S. Capitol. Visitors are encouraged to use Metrobus and Metrorail. More information is available at www.USBG.gov

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SITES Guidelines

As the SITES initiative gains recognition and popularity, we felt it would be beneficial to direct you to a couple of interconnected websites: https://www.gbci.org and https://www.sustainablesites.org

The following are excerpts from material found on these sites:
The central message of the SITES program is that any project-whether the site of a university campus, large subdivision, shopping mall, park, commercial center, or even a home-holds the potential to protect, improve, and regenerate the benefits and services provided by healthy ecosystems.

SITES GUIDING PRINCIPLES
These principles informed the development of specific and measurable criteria for site sustainability and can also be applied to the land design and development process.

Do no harm.
Make no changes to the site that will degrade the surrounding environment. Promote sustainable design projects on sites where previous disturbance or development presents an opportunity to regenerate ecosystem services through sustainable design.

Apply the precautionary principle.
Be cautious in making decisions that could threaten human and environmental health. Some actions can cause irreversible damage. Examine a full range of alternatives (including no action), and be open to contributions from all potentially affected parties.

Design with nature and culture.
Create and implement designs that are responsive to economic, environmental, and cultural conditions and to the local, regional, and global context.

Use a decision-making hierarchy of preservation, conservation, and regeneration.
Maximize the benefit of ecosystem services by preserving existing environmental features, conserving resources in a sustainable manner, and regenerating lost or damaged ecosystem services.

Provide regenerative systems as intergenerational equity.
Provide future generations with a sustainable environment supported by regenerative systems and endowed with regenerative resources.

Support a living process.
Continuously re-evaluate assumptions and values, and adapt to demographic and environmental change.

Use a systems thinking approach.
Understand and value the relationships in an ecosystem. Use an approach that reflects and sustains ecosystem services and re-establishes the integral and essential relationship between natural processes and human activity.

Use a collaborative and ethical approach.
Encourage direct and open communication among colleagues, clients, manufacturers, and users to link long-term sustainability with ethical responsibility.

Maintain integrity in leadership and research.
Implement transparent and participatory leadership; develop research with technical rigor; and communicate new findings in a clear, consistent, and timely manner.

Foster environmental stewardship.
In all aspects of land development and management, foster an ethic of environmental stewardship-an understanding that responsible management of healthy ecosystems improves the quality of life for present and future generations.

The SITES v2 Rating System is owned by Green Business Certification Inc. The material on which the SITES v.2 Rating System is based was developed through a collaborative, interdisciplinary effort of the American Society of Landscape Architects Fund, The Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center at The University of Texas at Austin, and the United States Botanic Garden.

As seen in LASN magazine, January 2020.

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Filed Under: USGBC, SITES, SUSTAINABLE, U.S. BOTANIC GARDEN, BARTHOLDI PARK, LASN