The Art Of Native Plant Gardening – The 3.5-acre Native Plant Garden celebrates the beauty of plants native to northeastern North America. Nearly 100,000 native trees, shrubs, wildflowers, ferns and grasses were planted in a carefully planned contemporary design that harmonizes with the natural landscape.
Located in Bronx Park, in the shadow of the New York City skyline, the garden includes over 450 taxa, 86 plant families and 192 genera. The ridge, the meadow, the body of water and the old forest are shown.
The Art Of Native Plant Gardening
Autumn view of the water feature that captures and purifies rainwater and integrates wetland biofiltration. An alley of black locusts borders the water feature (R). The entrance pavilion serves as the door to the garden (L).
Mt. Cuba Center
The forest is covered in spring ephemerals such as Mertensia virginica, Tiarella cordifolia and Delphinium tricorne. The annual appearance of spring ephemerals is a big draw to the native plant garden. Summer brings Zizia Aurea and Aquilegia canadensis.
At the edge of the boardwalk, wetland aquatic plants clean up rainwater (L). Beyond the Wet Meadow it transitions to the Mesic Meadow, where species such as Asclepias tuberosa attract pollinators, insects and birds. The Study Pavilion is visible in the distance (R).
Meadow’s tapestry of colors and textures emerges dramatically through the seasons. Each of the archetypal Native Plant Garden ecosystems is distilled into its visual essence, emphasizing color, contrast and texture.
View over Wetland, towards Wet Meadow, Mesic Meadow and Ridge. On opening day, the Garden consisted of 73,456 individual plants, a total of 454 taxa, 86 plant families and 192 genera.
Hawthorne Elementary Native Plants Learning Landscape Signage
Split Rock, a glacial erratic, is a visual hub connecting visitors to geologic history. (L) The interplay of Schizachyrium scoparium, Euthamia tenuifolia and Pycnanthemum tenuifolium forms a bold mosaic that accentuates the rock outcrops in the Ridge (R).
Pathways lead to the Education Pavilion in the Glade, which has been treated like an open cathedral. Canopies form arched ceilings over a richly patterned base that includes Carex plantaginea, Iris cristata, Heuchera villosa ‘Autumn Bride’ and Aquilegia chrysantha.
Children in the Education Pavilion learn the role of garden pollinators (L). An accessible ramp and overlook lead from the Education Pavilion, past a mature native oak (R).
The Native Border is a Native American interpretation of the traditional English border. Sporobolus heterolepis, Symphyotrichum latiflorum, Panicum virgatum, Eupatorium purpureum, Monarda ‘Purple Rooster’ and Geranium maculatum f. albiflorum are represented in the native range.
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The water feature stores and recycles 300,000 gallons of stormwater using aquatic wetlands as a filter, from which the water flows into an upper basin in a main basin where it is treated using a system of bags and UV sewers.
Beneath the calm water surface, a complex water recirculation system ensures the flow of water through the dams. Wetland, including the hearty Lobelia cardinalis, and woodland are shown beyond.
Lobelia cardinalis overlooks the water feature, berm and Wet Meadow beyond (L). A sea of Monarda didyma ‘Raspberry Wine’ hugs the water’s edge (R).
The Native Plant Garden is designed as an immersive and inviting piece of landscape art. Offering a year-round spectacle, the garden is a tribute to the natural beauty of the Northeast and a testament to ecological processes.
The Grass Girl
A centerpiece of the New York Botanical Garden is its 3.5-acre Native Plant Garden, which boasts nearly 100,000 plants in four ecosystems (meadow, meadow, wetland, and forest). The Bronx River flows through the site, and with this revitalization effort, stepped basins along an articulated curve provide natural filtration and stormwater retention through aquatic species on its way to the East River. Where uncontrolled growth has made the garden’s plant diversity illegible, the designers have chosen built-in rock formations as focal points within more selectively chosen outdoor rooms; an accessible main path winds between them, offering both a closer look at rare species and wider views across the refreshed garden.
Demonstrating the beauty and biodiversity of the northeastern United States, the New York Botanical Garden’s Native Plant Garden is a model for how landscape architects can weave native ecologies into garden settings. Filled with nearly 100,000 native plants representing 450 taxa, the new garden highlights the aesthetic and ecological value of native plants by capturing runoff, providing habitat, and inviting visitors to explore nature through experience and observation. Distilled from native ecosystems found throughout the Northeast, garden themes stem from the site’s natural topography and hydrology, informed by careful analysis of existing habitats and microclimates. A fully accessible pathway winds around a series of garden rooms and rock outcrops, connecting visitors to the site’s unique geomorphological history, while a sculptural water feature doubles as a hardworking landscape machine, demonstrating the potential of biofiltration and on-site stormwater management. The interdependence of native plant communities is made visible through the garden’s thoughtfully composed landscape typologies, which together form an important and environmentally responsible urban sanctuary for endangered native species of bees, birds and butterflies.
The New York Botanical Garden’s Native Plant Garden—a National Historic Landmark, established in 1891—is one of the oldest displays of native plants in the country. Developed by horticulturist T. H. Everett in the 1930s, the 3.5-acre garden occupies a bowl-shaped site near the center of the botanical garden’s 250 acres. Its sloping ridges are characterized on one side by old oak and hickory forests, and on all sides by prominent outcrops of Hartland shale, the bedrock of the New York region.
Over the years, the native vegetable garden became illegible. Dense vegetation along a man-made stream obscured views of the site, and attempts to replicate less common ecosystems, such as the New Jersey Pine Desert, failed due to the garden’s limited size. The landscape architects were drawn to reimagine the historic landscape as a vibrant, contemporary native garden, with an emphasis on connecting the botanical diversity of the Northeast with sound horticultural principles.
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Goals of the redesign included educating visitors about the aesthetic and ecological value of native plants, creating a year-round spectacle by celebrating diverse native plant communities, improving circulation and the visitor experience, and improving the health of the Bronx River by demonstrating sustainable stormwater management strategies. leads.
Extensive studies of the site’s soils, vegetation, topography and drainage guided the team’s approach. Particularly important was the in-depth analysis of the garden’s existing tree canopy and its most prominent geological features, which in addition to the shale outcrops include an iconic glacial erratic known as Split Rock, whose dramatic fissure was created by glacial movement. These natural features became central to both planting and circulation, serving as visual nodes that connect visitors to the site’s geomorphological history and create microclimates that support unique plant communities.
A hierarchy of trail systems, including a primary ADA-accessible route, provides visitors with a range of sensory experiences, from sweeping vistas to intimate interactions with rare plant species. Throughout, pathways and hardscape elements were carefully sited and constructed to avoid the root zones of existing mature oak, hickory and poplar trees, while materials were sourced within 100 miles of the site to reduce their carbon footprint. The garden’s prized collection of Trillium grandiflorum, a charismatic spring ephemeral that is listed as “vulnerable to exploitation” in New York State, was carefully transplanted during construction, then replanted.
Through its varied topography and hydrology, the site naturally divides into a series of landscape types, from xeric ridges to wet waves. Each typology offered different vegetative, artistic and experiential themes, and together they served as the basis for a series of garden rooms inspired by the ecosystems common to the Northeast: forests, meadows, wetlands and meadows. Within each habitat, microclimates created additional opportunities to showcase native plant communities, while the introduction of a large water feature allowed the creation of more hydric habitats, such as wet meadow, wet forest, and emergent wetlands.
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To create a cohesive garden experience, the team distilled each archetypal ecosystem into its visual essence, emphasizing color, contrast, texture and seasonality. The goal was to capture the spirit of native plant communities without reproducing them. In the Meadow areas, a complex tapestry of colors and textures emerges seasonally from the main matrix, while a pointy leafy second layer of herbaceous flowering material creates color and visual interest. The interplay of wasteland and grasses forms a bold mosaic that accentuates the rock outcrops. The Glade and Woodland sections are treated like outdoor cathedrals, with canopies forming vaulted ceilings over a richly patterned ground plane of ferns and spring ephemerals, while at the entrance a dazzling array of native wildflowers beckons visitors to explore the garden beyond.
Through close collaboration with the Garden’s horticultural staff, the landscape architects selected more than 450 unique taxa from an initial list of more than 3,000. Nearly 100,000 new native trees, shrubs, ferns, grasses, sedges, spring ephemerals and wildflowers generate an immersive experience, which demonstrates the rich biodiversity of the Northeast. The garden supports seven species of plants, including Helonias bullata, which are propagated as part of the National Collection of Endangered Plants, the largest living collection of rare plants in the world.
Special attention was paid to transition zones (ecotones) between habitats. Plants were carefully selected to create transitions that are experientially and functionally seamless. Equal attention was paid to structure and composition above and below ground,
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