McKinney Green Gardens at Gabe Nesbitt Park - McKinney, TX

The last stop for our summer session in sustainability was the McKinney Green Gardens at Gabe Nesbitt Park in McKinney, Texas

The City of McKinney and the Texas AgriLife Research and Extension Urban Solutions Center have designed and planted the McKinney Green Gardens, a landscape water conservation demonstration at Gabe Nesbitt Park. The McKinney Green Gardens will help educate children, homeowners, developers and landscapers about water conservation practices by illustrating how a water conservation landscape can be beautiful and water-saving at the same time.

The one-acre McKinney Green Gardens will illustrate the practices of planning and design, proper plant selection, irrigation efficiency, new technologies and landscape best management practices.

With this installation, the City of McKinney shows a dedication to conserving our natural resources, to educating the public on conservation practices, and to creating beautiful outdoor spaces for all to enjoy. McKinney Green Gardens is a one-of-a-kind demonstration. This garden leads by example, using resource efficient plants, highly efficient irrigation systems and best garden practices for Texas, while showcasing a garden aesthetic that uses ecologically sensitive green design.

Six landscape areas represent the following landscape concepts: cottage, butterfly, wildlife, rock, serenity moon and native plants. Nine different turfgrasses will separate each landscaped area. These will include: Crowne, Palisades, Cavalier and Zorro Zoysiagrasses, Buffalograss, Premier Bermudagrass, St. Augustinegrass, Tall Fescue and Tifton 10. Each landscaped area is connected by meandering paths, all leading to a central gathering place.(1)

Check out the link to their website at the bottom of this page.  It has an interactive GoogleMaps type map with tags identifying plants, grasses and other features of the garden.  The website also includes listings of plants, grasses and irrigation systems used in its construction and support.

Native plants are identified with labels.

Even with the extreme summer temperatures many of the native plants were flowering and attracting butterflies.

We also saw a small cottontail rabbit running and hiding from us and the hot Texas summer sun.

For more information about the McKinney Green Garden check out their website here: http://mckinneygreengardens.tamu.edu/

(1) all of the preceding is an excerpt taken from mckinneygreengardens.tamu.edu/ website and is wholly attributed to that site.