Courtesy Airlie Gardens

threat

The greatest threat to Airlie Gardens is severe weather. The garden is located on the southeastern portion of North Carolina’s coast and is, therefore, regularly subject to devastating tropical storms and hurricanes. While high winds, salt spray, and floods are all significant threats during these severe storms, the plantings are most heavily impacted by the stagnant flood waters that pond in and around the garden for up to days after a storm.

More recently, the garden, including the Azalea Collection has been threatened by polluted stormwater runoff that enters the site from neighboring communities. The proliferation of impervious surfaces that results from surrounding development has significantly increased the pollution found in the runoff in recent years. This issue was most evident following a tropical depression that hit New Hanover County in 2006 during which time the pollutant rich runoff from the storm flowed into Airlie’s freshwater lake, causing an algae bloom that lead to a fish kill of more than 900 fish.

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