The Changing Face of Public Gardens

The Grand Garden: A New Experience at The Morton Arboretum

by Heather Prince

On a bright autumn afternoon, there’s

a new garden humming with color and life at The Morton Arboretum. A hummingbird stops to sip from zinnias and echinacea. Monarch butterflies dance overhead in search of nectar before migration. The trees are loud with bird song as fountains burble. As part of its 100th anniversary festivities, the Arboretum has just opened The Grand Garden a few steps away from the Visitor Center. Designed as a celebration of plants and a welcoming space for events, The Grand Garden has been a concept on the Arboretum’s master site plan since 1997. We sat down with Susan Jacobson, FASLA, PLA, Head of Site Planning & Design and Alicia LaVire, Vice President of Marketing & Communications, to dig into how these new garden spaces were developed and implemented.

Many familiar with the Arboretum have been watching the garden take shape in the former Hedge Garden space. Begun in 1934, the Hedge Garden was one of the few formal planted landscapes at the tree museum. Over the years, it has transformed with the times again and again. “There once was a rose garden,” observed Jacobson. “Elms used to punctuate the hedges, then beeches. Before the boxwood, we had barberry. The perimeter hedge used to be burning bush before that was changed out with Cornus mas.” Over time, climate change-driven weather patterns and age had taken their toll on

the central boxwood parterre and the Japanese crabapples that shaded it. “The four floribunda crabs were beautiful, but as time went on, it became very labor intensive to keep them healthy,” commented Jacobson. “We’ve kept crabapples in that location in the new garden space to echo the past. We chose Golden Raindrops® crabs for their hardiness and disease resistance.” The hedge examples also changed frequently over the years depending on performance and as new shrub varieties were tried. The new garden continues to honor the view to the Four Columns that sits high on the hill. Suzette Morton Davidson, founder Joy Morton’s granddaughter, had them installed as a focal point after her father, Sterling Morton’s recommendation. Suzette would say that they represented the four Morton brothers: Joy, Paul, Mark, and Carl.

As landscape trends have evolved, the Hedge Garden was earmarked in the master site plan as an opportunity for a new planted garden space that would provide gathering space and offer homeowners new ideas for their own gardens. “The Hedge Garden was the first formal garden at the Arboretum,” commented LaVire. “It was a demonstration garden of formal hedges which were very en vogue at the time and showcased pruning and planting techniques. As we thought about the centennial, the Arboretum had an opportunity to reimagine the garden while still maintaining its phenomenal view.”

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The Arboretum contracted Tres Fromme of 3.Fromme Design and Hodgson Douglas Landscape Architects (HDLA of Nashville, TN) to re-envision this historic nexus. “The goal of the garden is to showcase the beauty and diversity of plants and to reimagine this central gathering space that is just steps away from the Visitor Center, to provide a new destination for people at the Arboretum,” commented LaVire. “I think it truly does that. The garden really envelops you. There’s a different view depending on where you’re standing, but no matter where you are, you hear the sounds of falling water and you see beauty and color in every season. Providing that experience to guests at the Arboretum that was a key goal.”

“Accessibility for those with wheelchairs and strollers was also a goal of the project and a priority for the Arboretum,” said LaVire. The walkways are wider than standard, and surfaces are easy for visitors with mobility issues to navigate. “This garden was designed from the beginning to make it more easily accessible to everyone,” reported Jacobson. “Whether you have a double-wide stroller, a wheelchair, a walker, or other mobility needs, we made the walkway six feet wide for ease of navigation. Two wheelchairs can pass each other easily and it meets ADA standards from one end to the other. The grade does go up as you go east, but the slope is managed to avoid the need of handrails.”

The Grand Garden is divided into three garden spaces. The Joy of Plants Garden at the west end nearest the Administration building is anchored by an 18-foot-diameter cast stone circular fountain with two rows of bubbling jets. Two cement paths lead east through six garden rooms into the circular Centennial Plaza that is surrounded by four raised planters featuring seasonal displays and galvanized steel arbors that showcase wisteria, clematis and lonicera vines. As you continue east you step into the Celebration Garden and terrace featuring a 12-foot long oval fountain set at the rear and embraced by 100-year-old juniper trees.

The Joy of Plants Garden

The Joy of Plants Garden is designed as six connected garden rooms set into colorful garden beds. “Each of these garden rooms has a different color palette that moves from pink to blues to purples,” said Jacobson. “The plants are mirrored on either side of the central lawn panel so that it reads as one landscape,” said Jacobson. “As you explore the beds surrounding these rooms, we’re using different varieties of perennials and mid-range shrubs like clethra, hydrangea, and caryopteris. We used (continued on page 26)

(continued from page 24) several varieties of each species so people can compare. clethra cultivars, for example, include 16 Candles, Summer Sparkler, and Ruby Spice. It gives us the opportunity to showcase plants we haven’t had a chance to feature before.”

The different garden rooms are defined by galvanized steel treillages with custom decorative laser cut panels. Each panel features cut-out patterns of four trees: white oak, sugar maple, American elm, and American linden. Galvanized steel was chosen for its ability to hold up to Chicago winters for many years to come. Each garden room holds a pair of steel benches inviting visitors to sit and enjoy. “We wanted this end of the garden to be colorful, yet calm and contemplative,” observed Jacobson. “You can watch the hummingbirds and butterflies while sitting here and reading a book, and you could still have a wedding going on at the other end.” Centennial Plaza

The Centennial Plaza is a large circular paved space of custom color concrete inset with stainless steel leaves and separated by limestone banding. One of the challenges was placing the steel leaves in the concrete at just the right moment when it was mostly, but not quite, completely set. “Centennial Plaza is a spot designed for large gatherings like big cocktail parties, lectures, or live music,” commented Jacobson. “The raised beds feature an ornamental annual display that will be changed out seasonally. We’ve kept the color palette around the outside fairly neutral with greens and whites.”

Centennial Plaza acts as the central orientation point on a direct axis from the Visitor Center path network. The entry porticos on the north and south sides of the plaza also feature laser- cut leaf designs giving an airiness to the structure. It is a space (continued on page 28)

(continued from page 26) where you feel embraced, where you can pause and change direction, or come to rest. Bistro sets are at each corner inviting you to grab a seat by one of the eight rectangular falling water fountains. The fountains also have steel leaves set into the base and clustered for a custom scupper at the edge to add musicality to the falling water.

The Celebration Garden

The Celebration Garden anchors the east end of the space and is designed to host weddings and special events. “We have much more of a neutral palette here with various shades of green, yellow, and a lot of white and pastel flowers,” reported Jacobson. “We kept the four gingko trees at this end, and we’ve added six new magnolia trees as well as Kousa dogwoods for their lovely white flowers.”

In The Celebration Garden you’ll find waves of hydrangea, Chardonnay Pearls deutzia, boxwood for an evergreen note, and layers of white annuals as the perennials settle in. At the far end, “the last room is a juniper terrace that is surrounded by a variety of unique evergreens,” commented Jacobson. “We want to entice visitors into the conifer collections.” Steel benches are placed at regular intervals to welcome people to take a break among the flowers and offer photo opportunities for brides and guests. The pale palette is soothing and as with the rest of The Grand Garden, a murmur of water is everywhere.

Challenges and Opportunities

Of course, no large project is ever without its challenges. The primary hurdle for The Grand Garden was the pandemic and the resulting supply shortages. The project was launched in 2019 with a relatively short time window from concept to construction. “We had a huge team that suddenly had to adapt and collaborate over Zoom,” remembers Jacobson. “There I was video chatting with Tres Fromme and his team as they were in Florida in hotel ballroom working on the decorative metal leaf layouts. We were finalizing the leaves and his team was laying them out on the floor so we could get an idea of scale and spacing.”

The most significant material shortage was plants. It required flexibility from the design team. “We often couldn’t source our first choice, much less our third or fourth,” commented Jacobson. (continued on page 30)

(continued from page 28) “We had to get creative. The Arboretum plant production team grew peonies and iris from rootstock in the propagation houses. We transplanted specimens from trial beds and collections that were either starting to be overgrown for their spaces or we had multiples. Todd Jacobson, Head of Landscape Horticulture for the Arboretum, was able to leverage his network of contacts across the country to secure some of the hard to find trees and shrubs.”

The construction allowed the Arboretum to lay infrastructure including landscape lighting, something not readily found elsewhere on the property. It also allowed for hose quick connects throughout the garden spaces, making watering and maintenance easily accessible. Perhaps the favorite new element of the landscape crews is a retractable hose on the juniper terrace that allows staff to hose down the pavement for brides and events, plus water the plants.

A Grand Garden Indeed

The Grand Garden was funded primarily by donation. “The garden is a $16.6 million project, and it was primarily funded from the generosity of Arboretum donors,” reported LaVire. “We also received half a million dollar grant from the Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity. 2020 was a difficult time for all of us, including the Arboretum. This garden project was able to advance because of the generosity of donors who were able to look beyond that critical moment and see that the garden was something people would need more than ever. People need to be outside in nature and surrounded by the beauty and benefits of trees and plants.”

There are 21 varieties of trees planted throughout the new gardens. Each garden room features a different species of flowering tree, and a few have been planted outside the Cornus mas hedge to pull the flowering display outward. Plant choices have been deliberate. “We want to provide a horticulturally-rich experience, showcasing many varieties,” said Jacobson. “This is not an experimental garden, but rather we really wanted people to experience a breadth of plants.”

The Grand Garden is an elegant space, yet on a very human scale. The waves of perennials and shrubs have filled the beds with layers of color and texture and in turn, have attracted pollinators and birds. This will be a space for ideas and contemplation, as well as music and celebration.