The Research & Education Garden - Griffin Campus
Garden History
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| The Research and Education Garden was established.
The Uga College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences set aside
65 acres of land along Ellis Road for the Garden. This area had
previously been used for research with grapes, muscadines, apples,
peaches, peppers, and Christmas trees. Here are some important milestones
in our brief history: The Pollution Prevention Assistance Division of the Georgia Department of Natural Resources provided an initial grant of $60,000 to establish and suport the Garden's inaugural research and education project in Landscape Management. |
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| 1995- A Five-Year Plan was completed and approved by UGA College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences. |
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| A ribbon-cutting ceremony formally marked the opening of the Garden on October 25. |  |
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| 1996- | |
| Davie Biagi, licensed landscape architect, designed the Demonstration Area gardens area based on input from community meetings. | |
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| 1997- Field of Dreams campaign, a fund-raising effort, is inititated. The campaign eventually netted over $175,000 for the installation of the Demonstration Gardens. |
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The Georgia Irrigation Association designed and installed the irrigation system for the demonstration area. |
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The Georgia Commercial Flower Growers Association donates $2000 toward the construction of a greenhouse. |
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| 1998- Most theme gardens are installed in the Demonstration Gardens. organizations, and foundations. |
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| 1999- The Garden serves as one of the homes for the Gardening in Georgia with Walter Reeves television program from 1999 through 2006. | |
2000- |
The pergola, children's garden playhouse, and native plants garden arbor were constructed |
| More than 850 4 H'ers from Camp Fulton learn environmental education at the Garden during the summer. | 
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The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency awards the Garden a $157,000 grant to evaluate and develop best management practices for Georgia home landscapes. A nonprofit organization -The Friends of the Research and Education Garden - was incorported, with a defined purpose of enhancing and supporting Garden programming. |
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| 2001- Tony Johnson is hired as Garden Horticulturist. |
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| The Friends of the Garden holds its inaugural Weekend
in the Garden and Plant Sale in April. |
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| The Spalding County Cooperative Extension Service launches its Lunch'N Learn series in cooperation with the Garden and The Georgia Center for Urban Agriculture. | |
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Stone-faced walls are erected on either side of the Garden entrance with funds donated by The Friends of the Garden |
| 2002- The Georgia Green Industry Association (GGIA) awarded the Demonstration Gardens its 2002 Silver Award in Landscape Installation at Institutional Facilities. |
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The Garden was selected as a study and testing site for Georgia Centifed Landscape Professional (GCLP) program. The Garden partnered with Griffin Technical Colege to offfer outdoor classroom facilities and internship opportunities for students in GTC's Environmental Horticulture programs. |
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