FAIRBANKS, Alaska (KTUU/KTVF) – On the University of Alaska’s Troth Yeddha campus lies the Georgeson Botanical Garden, spread over eight acres. The garden provides gathering opportunities for visitors and community members, through both its assortment of plants and various events that take place during the growing season.
According to Lacey Higham, directing manager of the garden, this summer will see nine full-time employees working to keep the area running by planting, trimming and watering, among other tasks.
Meanwhile, volunteers from the community often lend a hand, either at designated spots, or throughout the garden alongside staff.
Each year, the garden houses collections of roses, dahlias and peonies, along with “a variety of different perennials, annuals, fruit trees,” Higham said. She added that gardeners are currently giving hazelnut and chestnut trees a trial.
“The garden’s history is all about trials,” the manager said. “We’ve been trialing plants since the garden started and the farm started, which was in 1906, so there are lists and lists available online of all the things that did and didn’t survive during those trials.”
Higham explained that the garden got its start as part of an experiment station set up by Charles Christian Georgeson, to see what plants would successfully grow in Alaska, which was a territory at that time.
It was converted into a public garden in 1989.
“We have drip line irrigation,” said Higham. “We have sprinkler line irrigation. We have fenced in trees and not fenced in trees.
“We’re showcasing all of the different things that Alaska offers.”
Some of the less successful plants in the Interior include citrus trees. Higham explained that some plants that are reliable annuals elsewhere can only grow as perennials in Fairbanks.
For those that can grow, the garden’s display evolves as these plants cycle during the summer.
“Every week it looks different. We have all these high impact perennials that come and go with their blooms. It’s always changing,” Higham explained.
Fruits such as strawberries, raspberries, apples and cherries find a home in the garden. Corn, peas, peppers, tomatoes, cabbage and squash grow in the nearby farm fields.
The garden hosts events throughout the summer, including workshops, educational programs, the Far North Currant Festival, a Wine and Peonies fundraising event, and every Thursday, Music in the Garden, a free concert.
However, the garden attracts more than just people to its displays.
“We run rampant with squirrels,” Higham said with a chuckle.
“We have had porcupines in the past, usually in the winter,” she said, adding, “In the winter and early fall we have moose.”
To have a successful home garden in the Interior, Higham advises those interested to first focus on soil, adding organic material to native earth.
“Add something, some sand or some Perlite or something that’s going to help with drainage. A lot of our soil is really silty and holds on to water and becomes really compact, so you really want to liven it up with that organic material,” she said.
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