Sweet Auburn: The Magazine of the Friends of Mount Auburn Mount Auburn: Chapters of Poetry & Prose

Greenhouse Construction Update By Stephanie Gillette, External Affairs Coordinator Mount Auburn Cemetery’s Board of Trustees gathered with officials from Watertown and Cambridge to break ground at the site of the Cemetery’s new greenhouse on Thursday, June 14, 2012. Replacing Mount Auburn’s existing 41-year- old facility, the new greenhouse will greatly reduce energy demands while improving Mount Auburn’s ability to propagate historically and eco- logically appropriate plantings for its nationally significant landscape. Among the features of the new facility are open-roof venting, computerized climate controls, and an underground 30,000 gallon cistern for collecting water off the greenhouse roof to be used to irrigate the plants being propagated inside. The Cemetery’s existing greenhouses already reflect Mount Auburn’s commitment to the most ecologically sound maintenance practices. In the past several years, the Cemetery’s greenhouse staff has replaced the use of chemical pesticides with beneficial insects, increased its production of compost and compost teas for use in the greenhouse and on the grounds, and employed companion plants in its cut flower gardens to reduce insect and disease problems. The new greenhouse facility will allow Mount Auburn to expand its sustainable maintenance practices and allow these practices to then be shared with other botanic gardens, landscape professionals, and home gardeners. The construction of Mount Auburn’s new greenhouse is the first phase in the Cemetery’s long-term vision for a new Horticulture Center. The project has been funded through a combination of fundraising and institutional support. The Center will include classroom and community meeting space, new offices for the Cemetery’s horticultural staff, and expanded facilities for the Cemetery’s growing volunteer program. Designed by the Boston architectural firm of Wil- liam Rawn Associates, the Horticulture Center is planned to achieve the highest level of certification (Platinum) from the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) program of the U.S. Green Building Council. The project, managed by Consigli Construction Co., Inc., began in June with the demolition of a small house, once occupied by the Cemetery’s gardener, and its existing greenhouse facility, both located along Grove Street in Wa- tertown. The construction of the new greenhouse is now underway and will be completed in early 2013. 35,0000 gallon cistern for collecting rainwater to be used for irrigation View from Southeast Corner Winter 2013 | 21

Sweet Auburn: The Magazine of the Friends of Mount Auburn Mount Auburn: Chapters of Poetry & Prose | Page 23