Greening Croasdaile Retirement Community

Abstract

Croasdaile Village (CV) is a 100 acre retirement community located within the Croasdaile Farm area of Durham, North Carolina. CV strives to create beautiful and sustainable outdoor spaces for its residents, and would like to follow the example of several sustainable landscaping initiatives in North Carolina. The facility has partnered with Duke University to identify areas in need of improvement and obtain recommendations that, when implemented, would help achieve their goal. A set of criteria allowed for the evaluation of CV’s current landscaping and maintenance practices. Further research on sustainable landscaping methods and best management practices (BMPs) aided in the development of recommendations for the campus. Review of other local and national initiatives ensured that CV was in line with universal standards on sustainable landscaping. Results provide a comprehensive set of water use, maintenance and erosion control recommendations.