HOTEL GARDEN~
Habitat Suites~ Austin, Texas
Over a period of three years JBird & Company transformed a three-acre conventional, commercial landscape into a diverse diverse garden of native and edible plants. As Austin’s only “green” hotel, the transformation was an extension of the hotel’s mission. Our goal was to provide a living example of how aesthetically appealing an edible garden can be.
As the new gardens took shape old friends and visitors to the hotel started to notice the transformation. People started to talk – and ask questions. Why do we spend time and water tending boring cover plants, when we could spend the same resources growing something beautiful that can be eaten? Why do we plant Bradford pears (that are non-fruiting) when we could plant a “real” pear tree that bears fruit?
By creating a balance of native plantings and vegetable gardens we created a landscape that could be maintained within the hotel’s budget for landscape maintenance. The new garden, in addition to food, also attracts butterflies, and hummingbirds that delight hotel guests.
The Habitat Suites gardens have been featured in Edible Austin and Austin Monthly magazine.
