ReLeafers toured the green roof at Queens Botanical Garden. From QBG website: “The semi-intensive, 8,000-square-foot green roof with six inches of growing medium is planted with mostly native species that require minimal artificial watering and provide much-needed habitat for humans, birds, and insects.” Photo by Harriet Grimm
Located at the northeast corner of Flushing Meadows-Corona Park in Flushing, QBG evolved from the five-acre “Gardens on Parade” exhibit showcased at the 1939-1940 New York World’s Fair. Officially opening as “The Queens Botanical Garden Society” in 1946 after local residents saved and expanded the original exhibit, the Garden remained at the original World’s Fair site until 1961, when it was moved to its current location on Main Street in Flushing. Among the original plantings taken from the 1939 site are two blue atlas cedars that frame the iconic tree gate sculpture at the Garden’s Main Street entrance today. QBG has become a 39-acre oasis in one of New York City’s most bustling and diverse neighborhoods.
-From QBG website
Tour-goers taking a rest on the Queens Botanical Tour. QBG is on the flight path for JFK and LaGuardia and planes can fly quite low – hence the reactions of Ann and Pat in the middle. Photo by Karen Emmerich
QBC’s LEED Platinum rated Visitor & Administration Building was completed in 2007. This 16,000-square-foot building was built to achieve a LEED Platinum rating. It includes some composting toilets and the use of greywater for flushing all toilets, which reduces the burden on NYC’s overtaxed sewer/storm infrastructure. Here you can see how rainwater is captured for use. Photo by Karen Emmerich
State Urban Forestry Program Coordinator Mary Kramarchyk (left) with QBC staff, including Executive Director Susan Lacerte (in white) and Supervisor of Gardeners Morgan Potter (second from left). Photo by NYSDEC staff
Rainwater-capturing water feature at QBG. Photo by Karen Emmerich
The NYC Compost Project helps reduce waste in NYC and rebuild City soils by providing New Yorkers with the knowledge, skills, and opportunities they need to produce and use compost. Founded in 1993, the NYC Compost Project operates out of host sites in all five boroughs, including Queens Botanical Garden. Photo by Karen Emmerich