Bellemeade Micro Forest

James River Garden Club, in collaboration with Friends of Bellemeade Park, will install a micro forest at Bellemeade Park in Richmond, VA, to serve as a teaching tool for the park's outdoor learning program.

Bellemeade Park is an 8-acre outdoor learning campus in Southside Richmond that blends a community park with hands-on nature education. It sits beside Oak Grove, Bellemeade’s Elementary School, which serves a population of roughly 520–590 students in grades PK-5, most coming from historically underserved communities. The school's demographic profile reflects the surrounding Bellemeade and Oak Grove neighborhoods.

The micro forest, approximately 30' x 90’, will be located in an area currently just turf, near the park's farm area and easily accessible to the school. Members of James River Garden Club will work with the second-grade lead teacher to implement an interactive learning program where students actively participate in planting and monitoring the trees' growth. Volunteers from the local community will also join planting and maintenance workdays.

Grant funding will support site preparation and installation (approximately $6,000) plus development of related curriculum for elementary-aged students ($4,000). Friends of Bellemeade will make this curriculum available to other educators. The project draws on expertise from multiple partners with whom Friends of Bellemeade has long-standing relationships: Chesapeake Bay Foundation (providing micro forest design), Nature Connection Lab (curriculum development), and City of Richmond Parks and Recreation (site preparation and installation oversight).

The programming will give students from nature-deprived communities access to high-quality outdoor learning, which research shows improves academic outcomes, attention, and emotional regulation.