Community Corner
New England Botanic Garden First In U.S. To Ditch Fossil Fuel Tools
The garden, previously known as Tower Hill, is on a path to replacing all of its gas-powered landscaping equipment.
BOYLSTON, MA — The first botanic garden in the U.S. to move toward ditching fossil fuel-powered landscaping equipment is right in your backyard.
The New England Botanic Garden at Tower Hill has was recently certified as a "Green Zone" by the American Green Zone Alliance. That means the 171-acre garden and arboretum overlooking the Wachsuett Reservoir is on a path toward electrifying equipment like lawn mowers and weed whackers.
The electrification achieves two goals, according to the garden: reducing greenhouse gas emissions from gasoline-powered tools, and reducing noise pollution.
The botanic garden has been working toward the certification since 2019. On top of using electric tools, the garden also plans to install solar panels to charge the equipment. The work will be completed in part with a $112,000 Massachusetts Cultural Coalition grant.
American Green Zone Alliance founder Dan Mabe, U.S. Rep. Jim McGovern and state Rep. Michelle Ciccolo will visit the garden Thursday at 4:30 p.m. for a ceremony recognizing the "Green Zone" distinction.
The Worcester County Horticultural Society founded the botanic garden in the 1980s on Tower Hill Farm off Route 70. The garden is open daily at 10 a.m., although hours change by season. Find out details about visiting on the garden's website.
Correction: An earlier version of this story incorrectly said that the garden had already installed solar panels.
