The Fort Worth Botanic Garden will soon see a major new addition.
The $25 million Baker Martin Family Garden is expected to begin construction in mid-November, said Sara Richardson, the Fort Worth Botanic Garden’s vice president for advancement. A groundbreaking ceremony is set for Nov. 16.
Visitors should expect to see a grand opening in summer 2025 — in time for families to bring their kids during summer break.
The space is more than a garden and will be a place where children can touch, dig and splash without the threat of someone saying no, said Richardson.
“We want kids to come, engage and interact. We expect kids to come in dry and leave wet,” Richardson said.
The family garden has been in the works for over 20 years, said Brooke Lively, the Fort Worth Garden Club oversight chair. More recently, garden leaders identified the family garden as a priority in their 20-year master plan. Fort Worth City Council members adopted the updated strategy early last year.
Lou Baker Martin, the namesake of the new addition, had great affinity for the Fort Worth Botanic Garden because her father was a partner in Baker Brothers Nursery, the donors of the Rose Garden’s original rose bushes in 1934. The Louella and Nicholas Martin Charitable Fund’s decision to become the lead donor in the project reflects Martin’s lifelong appreciation for the garden.
“For decades, the Fort Worth Garden Club has wanted a garden, especially for children at the Fort Worth Botanic Garden,” Richardson said.
The garden is woven with teaching moments, enhancing the Fort Worth Botanic Garden’s philosophy of nature play, Richardson said.
The garden has a solar system theme, with Earth, Venus, Mercury and Mars exhibits featuring misters to cool people off and create rainbows that children can enjoy, Richardson said.
The last planet featured in the garden is Jupiter. The area around Jupiter will include a shade structure with musical instruments and play equipment that represent galaxies.
The garden also will include more terrestrial features, such as native Texas plants, a plateau and bodies of water.
“We have gone on missions to go out and find the plants that you would see at Big Bend,” Richardson said.
The hill leading up to the plateau is designed with the intention of kids rolling down and getting dirty. At the top of the plateau, a play area depicting the life cycle is planned. The chain starts with a snake tunnel that children can crawl through. The snake leads to the toad, followed by a spider with a web on which kids can climb.
Organizers see the play area as assisting with children’s motor skill development. The garden will have a creek in which kids can splash and learn how natural streams function.
The creek will flow into a real frog pond with dragonflies and tadpoles. A bridge with a stone ledge is planned for the pond so kids can lie down and get a closer view of the ecosystem, Richardson said.
Another hands-on area is the teaching pavilion. The pavilion will be the center for educational classes, story times and gardening activities, Richardson said.
A brief history of the Fort Worth Garden Club:
Information gathered from the Fort Worth Garden Club shows the long history that the club has with the city of Fort Worth and with the Fort Worth Botanic Garden. This timeline does not include all of the fundraising and projects done by the Fort Worth Garden Club.
1926: The Fort Worth Garden Club was established by 16 women.
1934: The club began operating the first garden center in Texas in the Rock Springs Building in the Fort Worth Botanic Garden.
1956: Club members funded renovations to the Garden Center and established the Mary Daggett Lake Library, named after the first director of the Garden Center.
1973: Members planted 200 trees in the garden to celebrate the U.S. Bicentennial.
1968-1973: Club fundraised the development of the Japanese Garden.
1973-1986: Members raised funds to build the conservatory and a garden center with offices and classrooms.
2020-2021: The club raised funds toward the development of the garden’s 20-year master plan for the combined Fort Worth Botanic Garden and Botanical Research Institute of Texas.
So far, $19.7 million has been raised toward constructing the garden, which will need $25 million before it is complete. Some donors and partners include the Fort Worth Garden Club, the Sid W. Richardson Foundation, the Amon G. Carter Foundation, and Bird Family Foundation, Richardson said.
The Fort Worth Garden Club does not have a target fundraising goal for this project, Lively said.
Some of the previous Fort Worth Botanic Garden projects the Fort Worth Garden Club has taken part in include the Fragrance Garden and the Japanese Garden.
“They have always been a very important partner with the Fort Worth Botanic Garden for virtually every major project and for the impetus and the funding,” Richardson said.
Find out more about the Fort Worth Garden Club:
Those wanting to donate or become a member of the Fort Worth Garden Club can click here or send a check to the Garden Club Office at 3220 Botanic Garden Blvd., Fort Worth, TX 76107.
For questions regarding Fort Worth Garden Club membership, contact the club using this form.
Georgie London is a reporting fellow for the Fort Worth Report. Contact her at georgie.london@fortworthreport.org. At the Fort Worth Report, news decisions are made independently of our board members and financial supporters. Read more about our editorial independence policy here.
This article first appeared on Fort Worth Report and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.