The Children's Garden is currently in the fundraising and planning stage of development. It will be located at the northwest end of the Fellows Riverside Gardens, and will encompass 1.5 acres of land, across the parking lot from the display gardens and the D.D. & Velma Davis Center.
There are several components to the proposed garden:
The Wonder Rooms Garden creates themed and enclosed spaces that help kids interact and engage with plants and recognize the differences and unique qualities of each room in the garden.
The Harvest Garden gives visitors an opportunity to engage with the edible landscape. Seeing where food comes from helps kids understand the food chain and how nature provides nourishment for people.
The Forest Garden gives kids a unique forest canopy experience through interaction with nature play elements of logs, stumps, and hollow trunks. A climbing model roots system allows children to see the below-ground structure of trees/plants and learn how there is more than meets the eye with plants. Bridges and platforms bring kids up into the higher canopies and allow them to see small animals and insects from a different perspective.
The Streams Garden is intended to emulate streams within Mill Creek Watershed. This garden area gives children an interactive way to learn about the ecosystem as well as explore the element of water play.
The Sensory Garden explores plants and all five senses. Children learn about the sensory qualities of the landscape and experience each sense in an area focused on that sense.
The Hummocks and Lawn emulate the glacial formation of three landscapes with cairns and glacial hills. The hummocks create an engaging and playful lawn space with plenty of area for amphitheater seating and large group events.
The Margaret Cushwa Education Building serves as the entrance to the Children's Garden. Completed in November of 2022, the building is the first phase of the three-phase development of the Children's Garden. The building will play host to groups visiting the Garden with educational programming related to horticulture, botany, and ecology.
