Redesigning The Gateway Garden 

Prior to 2015, The Gateway Garden, at the intersection of Blair Street, Williamson Street, and John Nolen Drive, was a traditional garden - planted annually with spring bulbs and annuals.  It was lovely to look at but required alot of work and water, and there was no place to sit or gather. So we embarked on a major makeover over the course of two years, completing it in 2016. The design created by Avant Gardening & Landscaping dramatically transformed the area into a welcoming destination for pedestrians and bicyclists.

In 2015, we eliminated the large, curved flower bed, re-graded the entire site, and created a large space for a seating area. Retaining walls, raised planting areas, a patio, seating areas, stone benches, and gravel paths were created. And oak trees, a coffee tree, serviceberries, sumac, asters, goldenrod, and over 100 little bluestem grasses were planted.

In 2016, Cool Splash Honeysuckles, Junipers, Arctic Fire Dogwoods, Prairie Dock, and Liatris were planted. The gravel garden was planted with Autumn Moor Grass, Alliums, Lead plants, Coneflowers, Penstemon, Culver’s Root and Asters. Thank you to Ebert's Greenhouse, Flower Factory Nursery, JFNew/Cardno, Kopke's Greenhouse, and McKay Nursery for donating these wonderful plants.

Thanks to the Wisconsin Nursery & Landscape Association and Madison Block and Stone, the gravel paths have been completed with the addition of a polymer stabilizer and more gravel. In addition, we have installed two wooden benches.

To see photos of the entire process - from the first planning meeting on a winter's day to planting hundreds of plants - click here