The freshwater NATO Pond near the center of the Norfolk Botanical Garden is often a hotspot for wildlife.
Visitors spy herons stopping by, turtles bobbing in the water and even the occasional otter from the surrounding Lake Whitehurst.
Garden officials hope three new “floating wetlands” will attract more wildlife – and the attention of guests.
“I wanted to help the public understand plants aren't just beautiful things, but they are functional, essential things, and we can use them in our habitats,” said Alex Cantwell, the Botanical Garden’s senior director of adult education and conservation.
The project, called Floating Futures, was launched with a $20,000 grant from the Hampton Roads Community Foundation.
Garden officials worked with students from Virginia Beach Schools’ Environmental Studies Program to construct the wetlands.
Each kidney bean-shaped island is a few feet long, made of a dense, spongy material including recycled plastics and topped with a layer of coconut coir and river stones, Cantwell said. They’re then anchored underwater.
The wetlands went up in November and are “just starting to wake up,” she said.
“I think with all this warm weather headed our way, they're going to really start to take off. It's going to be purples, reds, pinks and some yellows in there.”
The native species include blue mistflower, soft rush, swamp milkweed, swamp sunflower, hibiscus and cardinal flower.
The mix of plants provides nectar, pollen and seeds for a range of animals, including monarch butterflies. Turtles like to bask in the sun on top.
“We've got a really lush habitat that will form above the water, but it also will create habitat beneath the surface of the island,” Cantwell said. “Deep roots will grow through the island and into the water.”
Those roots will add oxygen to the water, filter pollutants and cool the water for marine life during hotter weather, she said.
Staff and students plan to survey species in the pond as the project progresses.
Visitors can also help. On the balcony of the NATO Tower, which sits next to the pond, officials set up a photo station where people can snap a shot of the area and upload it to a website called Chronolog, which compiles them into a timelapse showing the progression of the site.
Cantwell said the Botanical Garden has already received some inquiries from people asking how to replicate the mini-wetlands in their neighborhoods, which she considers a success.
Officials plan to add two islands to the pond with a new group of students later this year. In the meantime, they’re trying to fend off hungry geese.
Virginia Beach City Public Schools is a member of the Hampton Roads Educational Telecommunications Association, which holds WHRO’s license.
