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Normandale Community College Campus and Environs
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Greenhouse: The NCC Biology Dept. Greenhouse has a Headhouse area (studentwork space), Tropical, Mesic, and Xeric Rooms. There is also a small running stream, pond and waterfall. The Greenhouse is 48 x 36 ft. The Greenhouse is utilized by students in many classes and is an area where student workers can be trained in Greenhouse Maintenance. Integrated Pest Management and Biological Control Methods are utilized in the Greenhouse.
Prairie Plant Display Garden: Plants in this garden area are individually labeled.
Minnesota Developed Fruit Trees: In this area are Apples (Fireside, Zester, and Honeycrisp), Cherries (Northstar, Meteor), and Plums (Toka, Alderman).
Buckthorn Removal Projects: The goal here is to rid the campus of Buckthorn (an invasive woody plant species). This is a cooperative venture with the Administration, Building Services, Phi Theta Kappa (International Honor Society), and students in various classes. 9A & 9B - Scotch Pine and Aspen; 9C - Elm, Catalpa, and Oaks.
Prairie Restoration Project: Common and Orange Milkweeds, various Composites, and Goldenrods occur in this area.
Upland Deciduous Tree Species: 10A - Green Ash, Elm, Cottonwood, Red Dogwood, Box Elder, Sumac and Salix; 10B - Red, White, and Bur Oak, Cottonwood, and Box Elder; between 10A and 10B is Catalpa;10C - Red, White, and Pin Oak, Box Elder, and Elm.
Wetland
Riparian Tree Species: 12A - White Oak, Puplar, and Green Ash (also Poison Ivy and Grapes). 12B - Cottonwood, Box Elder, Green Ash, and Elm.
Forested Ground Moraine: 13A - White, Red, and Bur Oak, Cherry, Green Ash, Siberian and American Elm, Locust, and Catalpa; 13B - City of Bloomington Property.
Rain Garden: A garden designed to catch run-off, silt, and pollutants from the new Fine Arts Wingand the South Parking Lot, and filter the water before it drains into the Wet Prairie (3). The garden uses a special mix of soils to facilitate the process. Both native and non native plants can be found here.The new 5-yrear plan construction plan at NCC includes more water gardens.
Holding Pond: This pond catches run-off from parking lots before it enters the Normandale Wetland (11)
New Prairie Restoration Project
Rare Kentucky Coffee Tree (Gymnocladus dioica)
Japanese Garden: Native Minnesota species include: River Birch, Paper Birch, Sumac, Spruce and Ostrich Ferns. Other tree species are cultivated and/or hybridized and would be considered non native species. Of interest is the Ginko tree.
Wet Prairie: Trees include: Black Ash, Black Spruce, Tamarack, Basswood, Red and Swamp White Oak, Butternut, Walnut, and Sugar Maple. Shrubs include: Dogwood, Hackberry, Sumac, Alderberry, and Cherry. Non woody plants include: Goldenrod, Narrow and Wide-leaved Cattails, Milkweed, Mullein, Fleabane Daisy, Joe Pye Weed, Black-eye Susan, Gray-Headed Coneflower, Thistle, Yarrow, Blue Vervain, Big Bluestem, Eyelash Grass, and Rushes.
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Northern Minnesota Tree Species: Poplars, Quaking Aspens, Paper and Yellow Birch, Mountain Ash, Current, Pagoda Dogwood, Red Maple, Ironwood, Red and White Pine, White Spruce, and White Cedar.
Geologic Displays: These NCC Geography-Geology Dept. sponsored displays provide the visitor with boulder-sized specimens representing the varied bedrock of the state of Minnesota.
Normandale is situated on an apron of loamy till at the footof a broad, rolling glacial end moraine that was deposited by the Des Moines Lobe of continental glaciers that covered the state approximately 16,000 years ago. To the east of thecollege a wide subdivided and marshy surface mirrors the underlying pitted terrace deposited of post-glacial RiverWarren, a very large but short-lived precursor to the modern Minnesota River. This diverse landscape affords the college a mix of vegetation types adapted to both wet, lowland and dryupland habitat types. Lowland areas to the north and east originally supported marshes and wet prairies rimmed with riparian forest vegetation. The drier ground morainesoriginally contained open oak savannas and sandy barrens. Of course, the area around Normandale was greatly altered by human activity. Swamps and wet prairies were drained and forests cleared for agriculture. By the early 1970s, farms gave way to suburban development, and evenlakes began to disappear as nutrient loading from residentiallawns caused swampy vegetation to encroach on openwater. Today, much of the area around Normandale cleared for agriculture and housing is being allowed to reforest, resulting in hills once again covered with upland communities of red and white oak. Unfortunately, many such areas are also choked with an invasive Asian shrub called buckthorn - another sign of the times. Overloading of nutrients from subdivisions continues to cause lakes to become marshes, and eventually wet prairies, a process called eutrophication. Nonetheless, Normandale faculty can provide a variety of learning experiences to take advantage of this rich and complex sequence of landscape changes.
Natural Features of the Normandale Community
College Campus
Normandale Community
College Campusand Environs
1 Japanese Garden
2 Northern Minnesota Tree Species
3 Wet Prairie
4 Geologic Displays
5 Greenhouse
6 Prairie Display Garden
7 Minnesota Developed Fruit Trees
8 Buckthorn Removal Project
9 Prairie Restoration Project
10 Upland Deciduous Tree Species
11 Wetland 12 Riparian Tree Species
13 Forested Ground Moraine
14 Rain Garden 15 Holding pond
16 New Prairie Restoration Project
17 A Rare Kentucky Coffee Tree (Gymnocladus dioicus)
Contributors: Dave Berner, Jon Hanson, Joe McCulloch, and Ron Ward
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France A
venue South
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South Lot
West Lot
Facilities
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hs r a M
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Fac
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Courtyard
8B
8C
8A
10A
10B
12A
12B
13B
13A
- Building
- Greenspace
- Parking Lot
- Road/Walkway
- Marsh
- Openwater
Land-uses
10C
N o r m a n d a l e community college 9700 France Avenue South
Bloomington, MN 55431-4399952/487-8200 - TTY 952/487-7032www.normandale.edu