The Carolina Garden Trail at UNC Charlotte

October 19, 2019

Take a walk through the crops of the Carolinas! On the Carolina Garden Trail in the UNC Charlotte Botanical Gardens, visitors find six smaller gardens that tell the story of the Carolinas through plants crucial to its development. The Trail interprets the Carolinas’ diverse cultures, illustrating how crops and plants were used in different communities, with experts hosting hands-on events to encourage conversation, foster connections between nature and citizenship, and spark engagement about being Carolinian.

This outdoor living exhibit tells the story of how communities in the Carolinas have undergone tremendous change since being colonized by Europeans. Throughout the Carolinas’ history, plants both divided and brought together citizens. The crops of the Carolinas came here from different cultures and for many reasons. From the peanut, which originated in South America, made its way to Africa, and then was brought to the Carolinas by enslaved peoples, eventually evolving into the popular snack it is today, to sassafras, a native tree which provided a unique drink to native Americans that evolved into root beer, visitors learn how a plant used in one way by one community is used differently in another. Once connected through bonds provided by language, ethnicity, and employment, citizens now live more autonomously. This landscape breeds isolation and declining social capital, but also offers opportunities to strengthen connections. Our exhibit fosters a connection between nature and citizenship that moves beyond a particular plant species. The Trail helps people from varying ages and backgrounds to gain knowledge about their shared histories and leverage their discoveries to create community connections. For example, visitors might assume that particular crops were typical of a distant past, only to learn how they changed the soil where they grew and the lives of the people who grew them, continuing to shape the present. We employ food studies techniques to illustrate rhetorical concepts such as how meaning is constructed, how group identities form, and how communities might advocate for more meaningful, increasingly necessary, civic engagement. The project engages diverse audiences on sensory, intellectual, and conversational levels, where guests see and smell the Carolina’s evolving horticulture, listen to experts share its meanings within a variety of communities, and interact with them on our websites, podcasts, and publications. Our Trail enacts the University’s commitment to the cultural health of the community by providing a space for engagement and connection.

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