Speaking out for Gardens

As an advocate for garden preservation, the Garden Conservancy takes a public stand to protect gardens at risk. Listed below are some examples of how we are speaking out for gardens:

The Los Angeles County Arboretum and Botanic Garden
The Garden Conservancy joined environmental advocates, horticulturists, and community members in opposing the proposed Arcadia Arboretum Natural Treatment and Groundwater Recharge Project at the LA County Arboretum. Four acres of the Arboretum would be converted to a storm water treatment facility, putting as many as 425 trees at risk. The proposed plan would divert storm water to the Arboretum’s Australia section into a series of groundwater recharge ponds. Using Arboretum land for this project would result in the loss of hundreds of irreplaceable botanical specimens, including heritage trees and endangered species. Some of the trees targeted for removal are 70 years old and over 100 feet tall. Read our January 28, 2021, letter to the Los Angeles County Supervisor.

The Hirshhorn Sculpture Garden, National Mall,
Washington, DC
The Garden Conservancy joined several other cultural and preservation organizations in raising concerns about the redesign of the sunken sculpture garden at the Hirshhorn Museum on the National Mall in Washington, DC. As currently proposed, the redesign destroys key features of the postwar landscape design, a masterwork of Modernist landscape architecture by Lester Collins. In a letter on September 10, 2020, to the National Capital Planning Committee on September 10, 2020, Garden Conservancy President and CEO James Brayton Hall comments in the letter that "this sculpture garden by Lester Collins one of the most important examples of Modernist landscape design. It is in complete harmony with the Brutalist architecture of the Hirshhorn Museum." 

UPDATE, July 2021: After modifications were made to the proposed redesign of the Hirshhorn Sculpture Garden in 2021, the Garden Conservancy submitted a second letter on July 20, 2021, expressing a more neutral position in support of their growing need for programmatic and exhibition space and recommending thoroughly documentation of key aspects of the existing site designed by Lester Collins before any alterations are made.

The McGinley Garden, 582 Blue Hill Avenue, Milton, MA
The McGinley Garden in Milton, MA, was designed by renowned landscape architect Ellen Shipman in 1925 and is a stunning example of her garden design philosophy: the close integration of house and garden. The site is an example of living history, representing the work of several significant figures in American architecture and landscape architecture. The Garden Conservancy had the honor of opening the McGinley Garden to the public through our Open Days program several times between 2016 and 2018, drawing keen visitors from all over the world.

Both the house and garden, which are privately owned, are currently threatened by an application to raze the site and build 120 multi-family rental units and 180 parking spaces. On April 22, 2020, the Garden Conservancy joined scholars like the preeminent landscape historian Judith B. Tankard and cultural organizations such as the Cultural Landscape Foundation in opposing the development proposal in letters to the Mass Housing Finance Agency and to Michael D. Dennehy, town administrator for the Town of Milton, MA.

UPDATE - February 2021: A ruling from the Zoning Board of Appeals is due by July 13, 2021, but it could continue to be argued in land court. Local residents and activists have engaged to fight the project, but with the deck stacked against, they hope that continued pressure from the public could make the difference, and encourage a decision that will minimize impacts to this important historic landscape. If you are interested in supporting the effort to save this important garden, there is an online petition at Change.org. 

Plaza sculpture garden at the National Geographic Headquarters, Washington, DC
"Marabar," a significant work of art by renowned artist Elyn Zimmerman that was commissioned by National Geographic in 1984 for the entry plaza at its Washington, DC, headquarters, is threatened by the proposed redesign of the headquarters. On May 27, 2020, the Garden Conservancy joined other preservation and cultural groups in urging the Historic Preservation Review Board (HPRB) for the District of Columbia to reconsider its previous approval for the renovation plans. Read our letter. 

UPDATE - March 2021: MARABAR will not be demolished; however, it will have to leave the National Geographic campus. As noted in coverage by the New York Times, Art Newspaper and other outlets, a settlement was announced at the March 4, 2021 hearing of the D.C. Historic Preservation Review Board, which was considering a proposal to renovate part of the campus; the renovation would have resulted in the artwork’s demolition. NGS has pledged to remove and relocate the one-million-pound twelve-granite boulder installation at its own expense. The Cultural Landscape Foundation (TCLF) and the artist are collaborating to find a new home at a museum, university, or other cultural institution.

UPDATE - January 2022: It is announced that MARABAR has found a new home at American University (The Architect's Newspaper, December 30, 2021).

The Russell Page courtyard garden at the Frick Collection, New York, NY
The courtyard garden designed by Russell Page at the Frick Collection in New York City made news in 2018 because of the museum’s revised renovation plans. After public criticism (including a press release from the Garden Conservancy in 2014) for disregarding the importance of the garden in earlier designs for remodeling their buildings and grounds, the Frick proposed a new design, announced in May 2018, which promised to preserve the garden with relatively few changes.

The Garden Conservancy sent a letter on May 25, 2018, to New York City's Landmark Preservation Commission (which reviews such proposals), stating our support for the new design, which preserves the garden as it was designed by Page. Noted public garden designer Lynden Miller has been retained to oversee the preservation of the garden during construction and the re-installation of the garden afterwards. 

On June 26, 2018, the Landmark Preservation Commission approved the Frick’s new proposal. On January 23, 2020, the Garden Conservancy sent a letter to the NYC Board of Standards and Appeals, commending the Frick's decision to acknowledge the significance of this garden in its current plans for expansion. Read the letter. Learn more about this garden.

The Morgan Library & Museum, New York, NY
On October 29, 2019, the New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission approved plans to re-vamp the Charles McKim-designed Morgan Library & Museum exteriors for the first time in the landmark's 112-year history. Read the Garden Conservancy's letter in support of this project. Learn more about the Morgan Library & Museum.

Fort Greene Park, Brooklyn, NY
On July 23, 2019, the Garden Conservancy sent a letter opposing the redesign of Fort Greene Park, in Brooklyn, NY. The proposed plan would destroy multipurpose cobblestone-and-grass relief mounds designed by pioneer American landscape architect Arthur Edwin Bye, Jr. in the 1970s. Read the letter. Learn more about Fort Greene Park.

Brooklyn Botanical Garden, Brooklyn, NY
A proposed high-rise development at 960 Franklin Avenue would block sunlight and harm the Brooklyn Botanical Garden's unparalleled plant collections. Learn more about this threat and how to oppose this rezoning to protect the integrity and beauty of the garden.

Powell Gardens, Kansas City, MO
In 1984, the Powell family partnered with the University of Missouri’s School of Agriculture to develop this site—originally a farm created in 1948 by a prominent Kansas City businessman—as a horticultural resource for the people of Kansas City and the surrounding region. Today, Powell Gardens is visited by more than 100,000 people annually. The garden is home to the nation’s largest edible landscape, more than 6,000 varieties of plants, and a series of significant buildings designed by the E. Fay Jones, a disciple of Frank Lloyd Wright.

On May 15, 2018, the Garden Conservancy sent a letter opposing the siting of a “factory farm” just three miles from the garden. Factory farms produce air pollution in the form of particulates, odors, methane, carbon dioxide, hydrogen sulfide, and ammonia, as well as polluted water run-off, all of which are toxic to people, animals, and plants up to six miles away. 

On July 26, 2018, Missouri's Administrative Hearing Commission placed a stay on the expansion of Valley Oaks Steak Company's factory farm. The Valley Oak Steak Company closed in August 2019 due to opposition to the proposed expansion of their factory farm. Learn more about Powell Gardens.

The Juliette Gordon Low House, Savannah, GA
In 2018, proposed renovation of the Juliette Gordon Low House in Savannah, GA, threatened to destroy a garden designed by Clermont Lee in the 1950s. Gordon Low was the founder of the Girl Scouts of the USA. Clermont Huger Lee was the first registered female landscape architect in Georgia. The Victorian parterre garden she designed at the Juliette Gordon Low Birthplace comprises intricate geometric shapes and is an important example of her work. On July 10, 2018, the Garden Conservancy sent a letter supporting the exploration of alternative renovation plans that would preserve the garden.

On March 10, 2020, the Garden Conservancy sent another letter, this time to the Metropolitan Planning Commission, in Savannah, GA, imploring them to carefully consider the importance of preserving the cultural legacy of Claremont Lee when reviewing the new plans submitted by the Girl Scouts, USA, in November 2019, which threaten Lee's original design intent. Read the letter. Learn more about the Juliette Low Birthplace.

UPDATE MARCH 2020: Despite efforts by the Garden Conservancy and other organizations to reconsider the importance of preserving this garden, it was reported that original renovation plans, which would destroy the garden, are proceding.

Stoneleigh Garden, Villanova, PA
Stoneleigh Garden was designed by the Olmsted Brothers firm and is a historically and culturally significant garden in the Philadelphia area. Shortly after opening in 2018, Stoneleigh was threatened by the possible expansion of a local school district. The Lower Merion School Board proposed taking all or part of the 42-acre site to create playing fields and other infrastructure for the school district. 

On June 5, 2018, the Garden Conservancy joined with numerous horticultural and conservation organizations to write a letter to the school district to protest their proposed action. Despite progress to derail the proposed taking, this important cultural landscape is still in danger. As of January 2020, the Lower Merion School District is considering several options for the construction of new playing fields. Learn more about Stoneleigh.

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