Environmental Horticulture Center

Sustainable at Every Level

Every aspect of the EHC will embody our commitment to environmental consciousness, starting with the green practices we’ll employ in the EHC design and construction. For example, we’re choosing to upgrade rather than raze and replace several existing structures, extending their useful lives while minimizing material consumption. And solar panels will grace the staff building roof, powering much of the EHC’s electrical needs.

Green Today, Greener Tomorrow

The very first phase of the EHC will be the creation of a new composting facility. Strategically shifting away from pesticides for the past 15 years, we have successfully kept plant disease at bay by relying almost exclusively on a robust composting program. The EHC composting facility will let us continue these clean landscaping practices with an improved closed-loop system and the ability to scale our composting operations over time.

We Are What We Grow

The heart of Bloedel Reserve is its astonishing variety of healthy trees and plants. The expansive new greenhouse and shade house will dramatically improve our ability to cultivate and protect the exceptional array of curated plant stock that is continuously on view, season to season and year to year. And much of the work that emerges from the EHC will also benefit gardens – and gardeners – in our region and beyond.

Discoveries Move Us Forward

It was the Bloedel Reserve horticultural team that first spotted evidence of sudden oak death on our grounds. Since then, Bloedel Reserve has served as a primary site for USDA-funded research that explores the destructive effects of Phytophthora ramorum (or “ramorum blight”). The new EHC horticulture pathology lab will equip Bloedel researchers with the tools they need to find ways to protect the many plant species affected by this invasive, devastating disease.

A Place for People to Grow Too

Thanks to the new EHC, present and future horticulture staff, groundskeepers, interns and volunteers will finally have the spaces they need to thrive and grow. Proper offices (not “temporary” trailers), lockers, showers, meeting rooms. Places to teach and learn, to dream and to plan. Roomy, comfortable, and welcoming – just like Bloedel Reserve itself.

The Case for Support Right Now

Heartfelt thanks go to the philanthropic leaders who are contributing to this vital conservation project.

If you would like to make a donation, please click the button below. Or contact Development Coordinator Dan Walker by phone at 206-842-7631, x25, or by email at [email protected].