Low Maintenance Native Shrubs

The existing landscape of the BCC campus includes a large amount of ‘edge-to-edge’ turf lawns that cover the area from the edge of walkways and roads and continue to the walls of the buildings and structures. There are also smaller pocket areas where turf is present such as the islands between parking areas and small patches of ground between walkways and other features that could be planted with appropriately sized shrubs. The turf in these areas slows water absorption creating runoff, adds to the maintenance and associated costs of the entire site, and provides limited opportunities for pollinators and wildlife to forage and nest.

Conversion of some of these turf areas into low-maintenance native shrub-planted beds would increase habitat, carbon sequestration, and climate resilience on campus. Wide beds of low-growing native shrubs expanding outward from the foundations of the buildings on campus would preserve views from the windows of the buildings. A variety of shrubs listed here could be chosen to replace the turf in many individual sites throughout the campus.

Native shrubs could also be considered in the design of garden areas and landscaping including the Public Garden and Student and Faculty Space and others areas in this design. They can serve to create natural boundaries and provide privacy where desired.

Listed here are native shrubs considered "Low-Maintenance" and native to the Northeast Region by the Native Plant Trust, and are a partial selection of a more complete list found at nativeplanttrust.org