A new source of sun protection is popping up all over the University of Maryland’s campus: living umbrellas.
Associate professor David Tilley, along with several students, has placed at least six of these plant canopies around the campus. The most developed canopy is located near the bus stops across from Stamp Student Union, Tilley said. There are also canopies near the South Campus Commons Shop and the other dining halls.
The canopies look similar to regular metal umbrellas, except instead of a solid surface overhead, a wire structure supports a plant cover.
“It’s a way to provide an attractive and natural canopy for an umbrella, and … to provide shade for people sitting outdoors,” Tilley said.
The hope is that the umbrellas will turn into a thriving business, Tilley said. Those on the campus were either purchased by Dining Services or paid for by research grants from the state of Maryland.
Restaurants and other locations can buy the canopies for about $3,000, Tilley said, which includes a set of replacement plants, because the onset of winter will begin to kill the first set. To get future replacement plants, customers can pay a $300 annual fee, which Tilley refers to as the “frequent flower program.”
The product has several benefits, such as purifying the air, reducing the temperature of the environment below it and providing shade and habitats for pollinators, Tilley said.
“They’re meant to create a sense of place by adding nature in somewhere where you wouldn’t expect it,” said senior environmental science and technology major Liz O’Keefe.
The next step is working with other types of plants, Tilley added. They are currently working on developing canopies made with species that will grow fruits or other edible products such as peppers.
The plants take several months to grow, a process that begins in Florida. From September through April, the plants grow to 3 to 4 feet tall before beginning to create a canopy over the wire frame that helps them keep their shape. After about one to two months, the plants are able to fill in the canopy and provide shade.
“It’s different when you sit under it; you look up and you see the bottom of leaves,” O’Keefe said. “Something about looking up and seeing the leaves and the flowers — it’s really cool.”
For his master’s thesis, environmental science and technology major Nicholas Cloyd is working with and studying the umbrellas. He gathered data comparing trees, metal umbrellas and the natural canopies. He is looking at the amount of sun and ultraviolet rays that pass through the different materials, as well as the shade created and the temperature reduction underneath.
“From our preliminary results, [the natural umbrella has] compared pretty well,” Cloyd said. The canopies are only a few steps behind the metal umbrellas in terms of the temperature underneath them, and the canopies provide an SPF of 30 to those sitting below, he said.
The canopies are also exciting because of the human element, Cloyd said. Part of what gives the living umbrellas a step up is the “environmental excitement” they generate.
Bringing nature to urban areas is important, and using these umbrellas instead of placing planters is a better way to do that, O’Keefe said.
“[The canopy] creates a calming, comfortable area to be [in],” Cloyd said.
