Native and Underused Fruits

The UNC Charlotte Botanical Gardens hope to transform a corner of the gardens into an orchard for Native and Underused Fruits of North Carolina.

There are a wide variety of useful fruits appropriate for planting in the North Carolina Piedmont that are largely ignored by nurseries and the public. From pawpaws and maypops to scuppernongs and mayapples, this planting will educate people about these fruits and encourage their use in the landscapes of Charlotte and surrounding regions. The goal of this planting is to get people to understand the great diversity of food types that may be available in this region with just a little bit of work.

With your support, the Botanical Gardens will be able to purchase materials to build the Native and Underused Fruits portion of the garden. A gift of any amount would help offset the costs for the needed stones, trees, mulch, and labor for this kind of hard-scaping.

The Native and Underused Fruits garden will be seen by all 40,000 of the annual visitors. This planting will be both educational and spiritually satisfying for the University and Charlotte community as it inspires the use of different plant materials in and around homes and gardens.