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St. Jude Medical -- Restoration and Prairie Gardens on a Corporate Site Page 1 of 7 -- ST. JUDE MEDICAL -- RESTORATION AND PRAIRIE GARDENS ON A CORPORATE SITE Virginia Gaynor INTRODUCTION Driving into the entryway of St. Jude Medical's Woodridge complex, most people slow down enough to wonder, "What is this ?" The landscape at this corporate site demands attention. Formal gardens using mostly native species give way to natural areas of prairie, savanna, and woodland. The scene provides an excellent framework to question our ideas of landscape restoration and prairie gardens. St. Jude Medical manufactures heart pacemakers and medical devices. Though just a five minute drive from downtown St. Paul, Minnesota, this corporate site is in a peaceful residential neighborhood of single family homes. The Woodridge facility is located southwest of the junction of Highways 36 and 35E, and is accessed from County Road B. Construction on the building began in 1993 and the gardens and natural areas were planted in 1994, so the landscape is still very young. PROJECT GOALS Having seen a prairie restoration at a YMCA camp, the building architect was interested in natural landscaping and called landscape architect Jim Hagstrom, of Savanna Designs in Lake Elmo, Minnesota. The idea of a naturalistic planting met with skepticism by some at St. Jude Medical. The company was concerned about its neighbors, about its reputation with the financial and business world, and about its clients and colleagues in the international medical community. They wanted to project an image of corporate responsibility. As Hagstrom points out, this image can be antithetical to natural landscaping. To explain natural landscaping and what might be possible for the site, Hagstrom showed corporate officers slides of natural areas and gardens which relied on native plants. He took them to visit restorations in the area, and they toured the very artistic planting of Betula nigra (river birch) and prairie grasses at General Mills, Inc. in Golden Valley, Minnesota. Hagstrom was candid about the benefits, challenges, and problems associated with naturalized plantings. In defining the project two key issues emerged: perception and sustainability. In Hagstrom's words, "the overriding issue of this project became one of perception." The primary design goal was to create a landscape which evoked an image of care, intent, and responsibility. Committed to the use of native plants, Hagstrom turned to traditional design techniques to "make nature acceptable" to his client. An ethic of sustainability was the other guiding concept for the project. Hagstrom's goals for a sustainable landscape in this cold climate are a design which: a.) requires minimal or no irrigation b.) handles storm water on -site c.) uses predominantly native plant materials d.) encourages biodiversity e.) invests in healthy soil (no fertilizer and pesticides) f.) minimizes or eliminates bluegrass lawns The design challenge was, therefore, to integrate a naturalistic landscape based on an ethic of http: / /www.hort. agri. umn .edu /h5015 /96papers /gayner.htm 2/22/01