The Airlie Gardens property began as a land grant from King George II and through the years its 640 acres have been privately owned. In 1999, New Hanover County purchased 67 acres for a public garden.

Today students can visit Airlie Gardens and learn about the ecosystems there. Programs for third and eighth grade classes are based on the North Carolina Standard Course of Study and include pre-visit, on-site and post-visit activities. Eighth grades will learn about water quality, estuarine systems, wetland ecology, indicator species and resource conservation. Third grade students will study plant biology, plant adaptations, seed dispersal, soil properties and decomposition and see the Garden’s carnivorous plant collections. If you are a classroom teacher for another grade, the staff will be happy to create a field trip that will meet the needs of your students and curriculum goals.

The Gardens are open 9am to 5pm Tuesday through Sunday. Admission is $5 for adults and $3 for children age 6 to 12 years. To schedule a visit to the Gardens, contact Nicole Mitchell, the Environmental Education Program Coordinator at (910)798-7564 or nmitchell@nhcgov.com.


View Larger Map