The Linda Ulland Memorial Gardens (LUMG) is a collection of educational garden areas accessed by paver walkways, representing about 20% of a larger whole that will eventually include other garden areas as well as a museum/interpretive center. All garden areas will be accessed by paver walkways. Solar energy will be used for some lighting and rainwater collection tanks will be used for some watering. The LUMG areas are designed to be representational gardens, providing a unique way to learn about such things as local foods, natural forest foods, and environmental benefits of butterfly gardens, rain gardens and the native perrenial plantings.

Creation of the Linda Ulland Memorial Gardens is intended to shine a light on an enthusiastic environmentalist with a compellingly spunky personality by showcasing, through representational gardens and unique learning opportunities, her passion for resource stewardship and education.  Yet, just as important, is the nod to her insistence that the learning opportunities hide in a disguise of cool fun, ready to pop out and surprise visitors with just how easy and enjoyable it is to catch the passion! The tribute, then, becomes the trumpet of the resource stewardship song.

1. How is the LUMG fostering sustainable development
   a. Take-home ideas (Ex.-butterfly gardens, foraging garden*, etc)
*foraging garden- (from the Huffington Post 5/31/16) It’s easy to think of wild plants as renewable resources, and they are - when the population is small and the wild lands are vast. But now, in this day and age, it’s different. If even a tiny percentage of our population goes into the wild, in search of native ingredients for our latest recipe, we will devastate what’s left of the natural environment. One of the cardinal rules of foraging is for each person to take no more than 10-20% of what s/he finds. But if even an infinitesimal percentage of the U.S.’s 320 million people takes “only” 10-20%, it will be carnage. What could we do instead? We could do what people have done for thousands of years and what some are already doing: grow native plants at home or in community gardens.

2. Local citizen involvement/partnerships
   a. Vendors: power, water, design, landscaping, materials
   b. Artisans:  statuary, mosaic around new entry door, leaf-shaped outdoor classroom
   c. Volunteers: forager (Lady of the Woods), weeders, planters, mosaic tile workers, garden layout designer and CAD provider, local news story writer
   d. Funding Partnerships: Crosslake/Idea Lions, Ideal Community Service, local individual and business donors, U of M Central Region Partnership, USACE, PBSBA

3. U of M connection
   a. Three areas had early contact with this project: College of Design (lay-out ideas), Extension Water Resources & Consumer Horticulture (plant consultation/selection), Master Gardener Program (assist during planting)
   b. Site is available to U of M staff/students for study and research

4. Future
   a. Lessons learned/reminders: -Everything takes much longer than expected ☺
        -Partners that are bright and willing workers are treasures
        -There’s never enough money for what needs to be done
   b. Garden will always be a work-in-progress. Currently working on Paver Walkway installation and Talking Boxes.
   c. Learning Center design is expected to be the next big step in this ongoing project. No timeline yet.