The Pittsburgh Botanic Garden is a botanical garden in Settler's Cabin Park in the Pittsburgh suburbs of Collier Township and North Fayette Township, United States. [1] The garden spans across a total of 452 acres, making it among the top 10 largest American botanical gardens. [2]
According to their descendant Elizabeth in 2010, the McGill family had owned the acres since the mid-1800s. [2] In 1971, the family sold about 85 of them to Allegheny County towards what would become Settler's Cabin Park, [2] but because the county had more land than they needed for the park, it offered the McGills' parcel in the late 1990s to a Florida developer for a golf course. [2]
Around the same time Mr. Frank Pizzi, curator of horticulture and grounds at the Pittsburgh Zoo; [2] Ms. Lindsay Bond Totten, who would become the botanic garden's president until 2008; [2] and three or four others founded the Horticultural Society of Western Pennsylvania in 1988. Its mission was to promote and encourage horticulture and botany, the conservation of natural resources and the establishment of a botanical garden in western Pennsylvania.
Their dreams for a garden came true a few years later. "When those plans [for the golf course] fell through, county Commissioner Larry Dunn offered it and adjoining land to the botanic garden." [2]
The organization became a 501(c)(3) non-profit corporation in 1991 and adopted its current name in 2010.
Pittsburgh Botanic Garden is region's first comprehensive outdoor botanic garden focusing on hardy plants adaptable to the soils and climate in Western Pennsylvania.
No sooner had the society received the land than "they discovered the unseen damage that nearly a century of underground and strip coal mining and oil wells had done to the land. In 2004, Hurricane Ivan flooded the mines, and drove home just how bad it was, with acid mine drainage and subsidence. Experts said it would require years and millions of dollars in mine reclamation and remediation to create a garden that could use on-site water." [2]
To try to cut down on these expenses the garden's board applied for government and foundation grants and sought to find a company "that could remove the remaining coal while also reclaiming the land and treating the acidic groundwater." [2] In 2008, Mashuda Corporation was hired for this purpose. [2]
In 2012, "the passive acid mine drainage treatment system was constructed to restore the Woodland Gardens pond." [3] That same year "a 400,000 gallon underground cistern was constructed to supplement the garden’s future irrigation system and eliminate dependence on municipal water." [3] In addition, Mashuda Corporation transferred its permit for reclamation work on the abandoned coalmines to Cherep Excavating, who resumed the work in May. [3]
The welcome center, named after board member Bayer Materials Science, [2] is housed in a barn built in the 1870s. [3] The plan was to include an educational classroom, an orientation space, and public restrooms. The barn's upper floor will be available for weddings, along with an "elaborately planted courtyard and over-sized outdoor fireplace." [4] [3]
Across the street from the welcome center and next to the parking lot, [5] a farmhouse will be converted into the garden's offices. [3]
"Since 2010, approximately 20 acres have been cleared of invasive species, and over 5,200 native trees, shrubs and herbaceous perennials have been planted." [6]
The groundbreaking ceremony took place on Tuesday, August 1, 2006. [7] The garden will be completed and opened to the public in three main stages.
Phase One, the biggest of the master plan, is expected to be completed by 2015 at a cost of $30 million. [2]
This phase consists of the aforementioned visitors center, auto gardens (parking lots), a family garden including the Fred Rogers Garden of Make Believe, and a 40-acre area designated as the "Woodlands of the World". [2] This area will be divided into five geographically distinct gardens, including: an Appalachian Plateau and Cove Forest; [2] an Eastern European forest [2] featuring a 25-foot dragon made out of cob "to remind visitors of the birthplace of many of our favorite fairy tales"; [8] an English forest; [2] and a lotus pond surrounded by a Japanese garden. The latter will be designed by Keiji Uesugi who with his father Takeo had previously developed the gardens at the Japanese American Cultural and Community Center in Los Angeles and the Huntington Library, Art Collections and Botanical Gardens in San Marino. [6]
In 2011, the Sprout Tree Nursery, complete with greenhouse, storage shed and composter, was built as part of the planned Production and Research Center. [9] According to the garden's website, "the Sprout Nursery allows us to optimize our plant stock and take advantage of the lower priced younger trees. We are nurturing seedlings of the new hybrid American Chestnut strain, entrusted to us in 2011. We also have Black Walnuts, American Beech, Tulip Poplar and a variety of oaks, in addition to espaliered apple trees." [9] The nursery is supported with a solar-powered irrigation system. [9]
"The orchard sits between the 1784 log cabin that once belonged to Isaac Walker (a Revolutionary War veteran) and a farmhouse built in 1855.
Using the remnants of the two-acre orchard dating to the 1880s, we planted young saplings with ancient lineages. One of the species planted dates back to the 1500s and another dates back to 1790 and produced Thomas Jefferson’s favorite apple!" [10] There are plans for split-rail fencing around the orchard and the individual saplings. [10]
A "historically representative as well as highly interactive and educational" pioneer garden was built near the log cabin in 2014. [6] [3]
With grants from the Garden Club of Allegheny County, [11] an eight-acre meadow "features over 550 native white-flowering dogwood trees, now an exceptional and rare collection due to ravages of disease over the past 25 years. This spring display is augmented with spring flowering bulbs and spring blooming native shrubs and perennials." [11]
This meadow is located between the Woodlands of the World and the above historic homestead. Within this area a gazebo and an ornamental garden with a seating area will be constructed for weddings, parties and classes. [11]
There are also plans for an amphitheater for outdoor performances and a total of 18 thematically distinct gardens.
An orchard is an intentional plantation of trees or shrubs that is maintained for food production. Orchards comprise fruit- or nut-producing trees that are generally grown for commercial production. Orchards are also sometimes a feature of large gardens, where they serve an aesthetic as well as a productive purpose. A fruit garden is generally synonymous with an orchard, although it is set on a smaller, non-commercial scale and may emphasize berry shrubs in preference to fruit trees. Most temperate-zone orchards are laid out in a regular grid, with a grazed or mown grass or bare soil base that makes maintenance and fruit gathering easy.
An arboretum is a botanical collection composed exclusively of trees of a variety of species. Originally mostly created as a section in a larger garden or park for specimens of mostly non-local species, many modern arboreta are in botanical gardens as living collections of woody plants and is intended at least in part for scientific study.
Longwood Gardens is a botanical garden that consists of over 1,077 acres of gardens, woodlands, and meadows in Kennett Square, Pennsylvania, United States in the Brandywine Creek Valley. It is one of the premier horticultural display gardens in the United States and is open to visitors year-round to enjoy native and exotic plants and horticulture, events and performances, seasonal and themed attractions, as well as educational lectures, courses, and workshops.
The San Luis Obispo Botanical Garden is a botanical garden located in the rolling hills of El Chorro Regional Park, between San Luis Obispo and Morro Bay in San Luis Obispo County, within the Central Coast of California region. Its grounds, when completed, will be a 150-acre (61 ha) collection of gardens displaying the diverse plant life of the five Mediterranean climate zones of the world; the Mediterranean Basin, and regions of California, Chile, Australia, and South Africa.
New England Botanic Garden at Tower Hill is a 171-acre botanic garden and arboretum located in Boylston, Massachusetts, approximately 8 miles (13 km) north of central Worcester in Worcester County, Massachusetts. The Garden features 18 distinct gardens, preserved woodlands, and miles of walking trails.
Conejo Valley Botanic Garden is located in Thousand Oaks, California, and consists of a peak with vista views along with 15 hillside botanical gardens. It provides a teaching laboratory for what flora works and what does not work in the Conejo Valley.
Powell Gardens, Kansas City's botanical garden, is a 970-acre (3.9 km2) botanical garden in Kingsville, Missouri, United States, 30 miles (48 km) east of Kansas City. It features 6,000 varieties of plants, with 225,000 plants in seasonal displays, and is open to the public, for a fee, during daylight hours.
Nichols Arboretum, locally known as the Arb, is an arboretum operated by the Matthaei Botanical Gardens and Nichols Arboretum (MBGNA) at the University of Michigan. Located on the eastern edge of its Central Campus at 1610 Washington Heights in Ann Arbor, Michigan, the Arboretum is a mosaic of University and City properties operated as one unit. The arboretum is open daily from sunrise to sunset with no charge for admission. The Huron River separates a northern section of the arboretum's floodplain woods; the railroad marks the northern border.
The Cornell Botanic Gardens is a botanical garden located adjacent to the Cornell University campus in Ithaca, New York. The Botanic Gardens proper consist of 25 acres (10 ha) of botanical gardens and 150 acres (61 ha) of the F. R. Newman Arboretum. The greater Botanic Gardens includes 40 different nature areas around Cornell and Ithaca, covering 4,300 acres (1,700 ha).
Bellevue Botanical Garden is a botanical garden east of downtown Bellevue, Washington on Main Street. Established in 1992, many different organizations work to maintain the garden to keep it free of charge. What began as a 7-acre gift to the city in the early 1980s has now become a 53-acre public park with multiple gardens. This includes the Fuchsia Garden, Lost Meadow Trail, Native Discovery Garden, Perennial Border, Rhododendron Glen, The Urban Meadow, Waterwise Garden, Yao Garden, and Dahlia Display.
The Arboretum at Penn State, which contains the H.O. Smith Botanic Gardens, is a new arboretum at The Pennsylvania State University adjacent to its University Park campus in State College, Pennsylvania. It is Penn State's second arboretum, joining the Arboretum at Penn State Behrend, which was created in 2003.
River Farm, permanent home to the American Horticultural Society (AHS) headquarters, is a landscape located at 7931 East Boulevard Drive, Alexandria, Virginia. The estate takes its name from a larger plot of land which formed an outlying part of George Washington's Mount Vernon estate.
RHS Garden Rosemoor is a public display garden run by the Royal Horticultural Society in north Devon, England.
RHS Garden Harlow Carr is one of five public gardens run by the Royal Horticultural Society. It is located on the western edge of Harrogate in the English county of North Yorkshire.
Auckland Botanic Gardens is a botanical garden in the New Zealand city of Auckland. It is located in the suburb of Manurewa, in the Manurewa Local Board Area. The gardens cover 64 hectares, and holds more than 10,000 plants.
Mt. Cuba Center is a non-profit botanical garden located in Hockessin, Delaware, near Wilmington, in the gently rolling hills of the Delaware Piedmont. Its woodland gardens produce some of the most spectacular displays of wildflowers in the mid-Atlantic region. Mt. Cuba is open to the public from April through November for general admission, guided tours and special programs. Education courses, including a Certificate in Ecological Gardening, are offered year-round.
Bluebell Arboretum is an arboretum and associated plant nursery near the village of Smisby in South Derbyshire, England. It is a Royal Horticultural Society recommended garden, comprising a large selection of rare trees, shrubs and climbers growing in a woodland garden. Planting was started by the owners, Suzette and Robert Vernon in 1992 on what was then a six acre meadow, just under 500 feet above sea level. The arboretum was officially opened by Roy Lancaster, OBE VMH in 1997, and has since been expanded and is now open to the public throughgout the year, excluding Sundays during the winter months.
The Toronto Botanical Garden (TBG) is located at 777 Lawrence Avenue East at Leslie Street, in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Termed "The little garden with big ideas", the TBG is nearly four acres and features 17 themed "city-sized gardens". Located in the north-east corner of Edwards Gardens, the TBG is a non-profit horticultural and educational organization with a mission to connect people, plants and the natural world through education, inspiration and leadership.
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