Botanical garden designation
The Bicentennial Botanical Garden is officially designated as a botanical garden by the American Public Gardens Association. To receive and maintain their botanical garden designation, the Faculty of Agriculture is an Institutional member of the American Public Gardens Association, and follows best practices in the management of the garden - maintaining collections of plants for public education and enjoyment, in addition to research, conservation, and higher learning.
The Bicentennial Botanical Garden is open to the public and is staffed and maintained by professionals trained in their given areas of expertise while maintaining active plant records systems.
The Botanical Garden is at its peak throughout spring and summer and into the fall. Visitors can identify plants through labels, guide maps, and other interpretive materials.
Friends of the garden
The Friends of the Garden were created to help maintain the specialist plant collections on campus—including the Herb Garden, the Native Plant Garden, and the Alumni Gardens. They have worked with the grounds staff to help implement changes to the Alumni Garden that complement the teaching aspect of the garden while simplifying its management.
The Friends of the Garden was formed in 1999, with Dr. Bernard Jackson hired to coordinate the team of volunteers. Bernard spent 22 years developing the Memorial University Botanical Garden in St. John's, Newfoundland.
The Friends meet every Wednesday morning, to help with various garden activities on campus, and while here, have developed some close friendships while adding a few plants to their own gardens.
Volunteer with us
Membership to the Friends of the Garden is free to Active Members who volunteer 40 hours a year. Membership is $25.00 per year for Supporting Members.
For more information, contact:
Chelsea Baird, 902-893-5447 or by email: CBaird@dal.ca
The Garden Box
Helping you nourish your garden and your community.
The Garden Box is an online place to find credible, science-based garden knowledge in a format that is accessible to anyone, at any time. Whether you're looking for the specific growing requirements of tomatoes or trying to think of an exercise for community garden volunteers, we trust that this site will provide some solutions for you.
The Garden Box is a place to find credible, science-based garden knowledge in a format that is accessible to anyone who may require this info at any time. Whether you are looking for specific growing requirements for tomatoes or trying to think of an exercise for community garden volunteers, we trust that this site will provide some solutions for you.
You may be interested in growing food for many reasons–for hobby, leisure, or therapy, and of course to provide nourishment for yourself and those you care about. Dal's Agricultural Campus understands the passion involved in food production and has been supporting that passion for over 100 years.
There are many health, economic, and social benefits to “getting your hands dirty.” We are enthusiastic to be able to help those interested in gardening by providing some of the technical knowledge required to get you started in safe, local food production.
We especially want to support the work of those who share their passion with others through Community Gardening.
Resources
The Garden Box contains informational factsheets that cover gardening topics from breaking ground to preparing for winter.
Each factsheet contains current information and recommendations on a specific gardening topic or vegetable, along with suggested activities to help you apply the information and to have fun as you learn about gardening.
The factsheets are organized for you to access the information you will need as you go through a gardening cycle:
Choosing a site [PDF-277.3KB]
Selecting equipment [PDF-353.8KB]
Breaking new ground [PDF-91.2KB]
What to grow [PDF-312.5KB]
Garden layout [PDF-1.01MB]
Crop rotation and companion planting [PDF-341.8KB]
Plant nutrition [PDF-260.7KB]
Irrigating the vegetable garden [PDF-360.9KB]
Weed control [PDF-343.2KB]
Garden record keeping [PDF-61.8KB]
Season extension and frost protection [PDF-404.8KB]
Veggie gardening in the fall [PDF-409.3KB]
Preparing the garden for winter [PDF-173.8KB]
Starting seeds indoors [PDF-492.4KB]
Buying seeds and plants [PDF-102.4KB]
Sowing seed [PDF-299KB]
Transplanting [PDF-89.4KB]
Saving seed [PDF-79.6KB]