Students walking past Monroe Hall may have noticed a new feature in recent weeks — a small garden with a sign reading “Monroe Edible Patch.” Planted by Forest Patches, a student-led University initiative that creates diverse forest areas in small urban areas, the patch is part of a larger effort to reduce carbon levels on Grounds by planting more trees and plants in areas with sufficient space and lighting. This Monroe edible patch is the newest of several that the organization has planted around Grounds and is the first that features edible plants.
Forest Patches is a product of the University Office of Sustainability’s Decarbonization Academy, a paid, eight-week summer experience for students that works towards achieving the University’s sustainability goals of being carbon neutral by 2030. Fourth-year College student Leah Germain and fourth-year Architecture student Madeline, both of whom are University Decarbonization Academy fellows, said that their idea for creating forest patches started in the summer of 2023 while doing the academy program.
Academy fellows co-create and complete a hands-on decarbonization project with a faculty or staff mentor that directly addresses the University’s impact on the environment. Alongside Olivia Vargo, Class of 2024 alumna, and Tim Beatley, Urban and Environmental Planning professor, Germain and Morphis worked together to research nature-based solutions to reduce carbon levels on Grounds — the patches help achieve this goal by absorbing carbon dioxide and reducing the University’s net impact on carbon emission levels.
Beatley also connected Germain, Morphis and Vargo to the University’s Senior Landscape Architect Helen Wilson and Associate Director of Grounds Rich Hopkins following the Decarbonization Academy’s summer program in 2023. Wilson and Hopkins helped to implement Forest Patches’ plans and surveyed Grounds to find the most optimal places to plant their patches.
When choosing locations, they had to make sure that there were no redevelopment plans for buildings in the area or underground utilities which would prevent plant growth according to Wilson. Alongside the new edible patch outside Monroe Hall, there are also patches at Scott Stadium, Carr’s Hill, Meadow Creek, Observatory Hill and Hereford Residential College.
Germain and Morphis said that the Edible Patch differs from the other five patches on Grounds because it is the only one not developed using the “Miyawaki method.”
This method, named after Akira Miyawaki, Japanese botanist and plant ecologist, attempts to mimic natural forest generation by planting trees densely together — as they would naturally occur in the forest — but in a smaller, targeted area. The model then allows the forest patch to become self-sustaining and grow at a faster rate than traditional planting methods that use non-native plants.
According to Wilson, the group had to adjust their methods at the Monroe Hall location because the surrounding area receives heavier foot-traffic. Additionally, this area is not fenced off, so safety and security for the plants were big concerns.
Wilson said they selected plants that were lower growing and introduced edible components, such as elderberries, blueberries and strawberries so as to not want to create hiding spaces or block lighting in the area with larger plants and trees.
“We need to find places [for forest patches] where the adjacent conditions are appropriate for that type of a landscape,” Wilson said. “I think every patch has a different story to it.”
Wilson said that when compared to a more conventional forest patch, the smaller edible patch serves a more “ornamental” purpose with less impact on emissions. Nevertheless, the plants can still also be beneficial for birds and other animals.
All patches are created using a variety of herbs, shrubs and trees that are native to the Virginia area. According to the project’s website, using native plants has many benefits. Native plants are more resilient to climate changes, require less maintenance and use water more efficiently because the roots of plants are able to reach deeper into the ground than similar non-native alternatives.
The forest patches rely on student volunteers for planting and upkeep. Germain said planting days — during which student volunteers gather to plant a new patch — can have anywhere between 40 to 90 student volunteers depending on the size of the patch. Beatley said in the past at the Carr’s Hill patch, nearly 500 trees were planted in about an hour with the help of slightly under 100 student volunteers.
The first forest patch was planted at Scott Stadium and is now more than a year old. Wilson said that the first few years of growth are critical in determining whether the patch will survive and thrive in the future.
“We've already seen where we've lost some plants from the spring and fall of last year,” Wilson said. “So we would really want to encourage the students to focus on maintenance at this point, so that we make sure that the program is successful.”
Looking forward, Forest Patches hopes to create an impact that lasts long into the future. According to Germain, fourth-year College students MaeEllen Megginson, Elisabeth Doty and Lillibet Woodward, third-year College student Anika Gupta and third-year Architecture student Mai Friedman have also been crucial members to the team in organizing and making plans for future patches. While Germain and Morphis are graduating in the spring, they both said they do not want the project to end with them.
“We want to make sure that we're showing the patches we have planted succeed, while also still trying to expand the network through new patches,” Morphis said.
With plans for future patches in the works, Forest Patches does not see itself as an organization bound to Grounds alone. In fact, they have also brought these operations to the greater Charlottesville area. According to Beatley, teachers at the Virginia L. Murray Elementary School in Albemarle County reached out to Forest Patches to help them plant their own Miyawaki forest. Beatley said that the group is looking to plant more of these forests in the city of Charlottesville.
Morphis also said that the Forest Patches team is also looking into the possibility of creating a graduate and undergraduate intern program within their project, but said they still need to figure out more details for where it will be housed and how it will be funded. Regardless, Germain said she thinks the program is important no matter who runs it, both because of its broader mission and its ability to get students involved.
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