The Ticonderoga International Paper Foundation has recently awarded Fort Ticonderoga a grant supporting a shoreline buffer garden designed to educate visitors on how native plants prevent erosion, provide a buffer on the Lake Champlain shore, and promote pollination. Specifically, the $1500 grant will be used to purchase the plants, compost, and mulch for the shoreline buffer garden, and for the development and installation of interpretive signage. The garden will be open to the public beginning in May 2017.
“Fort Ticonderoga is grateful to the International Paper Foundation and to our partners at the International Paper Mill at Ticonderoga for their support,” said Beth Hill, Fort Ticonderoga’s President and CEO. “The grant provides important funding for our horticultural program to create and interpret the new garden. We look forward to this opportunity to highlight our shared commitment to Lake Champlain’s regional environmental goals of land preservation and water quality.”
The shoreline buffer garden will be located at the entrance of the newly installed Fort Ticonderoga dock. Beautifully situated in front of the historic 1826 Pell home, the Pavilion, the garden sits between the sweeping Pavilion front lawn and the stunning natural beauty of Lake Champlain and the Green Mountains.
The new garden is an addition to a $350,000 waterfront recreation and maritime project that was completed in 2016. Fort Ticonderoga acquired the 60 ft M/V Carillon tour boat in 2015. Boat tours embark from the 200 ft dock, which was installed in the summer of 2016. Daily tours, charters, and sunset cruises carry guests onto the historic waters of Lake Champlain from May through October.
“From the top of Mount Defiance, to the fort and the gardens, and onto Lake Champlain, Ticonderoga is the transformative American history experience that provides an unmatched combination of grand, immersive storytelling and breathtaking scenic beauty,” said Hill.
America’s Fort is a registered trademark of the Fort Ticonderoga Association.