Garden expansion plans unveiled
The sign along University Way announcing the future expansion of the David Douglas Botanical Garden has been up since last summer.
As far as Linda Naess is concerned, that future is now. All she needs is $2.7 million to realize that dream and construction could begin tomorrow.
Plans for the next three phases of the garden project were unveiled last week to city council but for now, the president of David Douglas Botanical Society is focused on raising the money needed to complete Phase 2 of the botanical garden.
“It’s a huge undertaking and our gardeners are ready to plant this spring, unfortunately the land isn’t ready, but they’re ready to go, that’s how excited we are,” said Naess. “The sign created a lot of awareness. It’s going to take money, so we’re looking for donors and we’re going for grants and we’ll fund-raise among our members."
Some of the features of the Phase 2 expansion include theme gardens which would include a wide walkway with wooden arches, a lookout station, tree house, a green wall made of living plants, sculptures, gazebos, and a maze constructed of hedge shrubs. During the spring runoff, Shane Creek runs through the site and large trees provide an indigenous forest feature on the south side of the property. A First Nations garden, which would include water and fire features, a medicinal garden, smudging pavilion and Indigenous art, is also included in the plan, as is a 3,000 squarefoot visitor information centre.
A research garden to test fruits and vegetables suited to northern climates is also in the Phase 2 plan as well as a community garden for UNBC students, with potential for a solar-heated greenhouse. Ornamental and seasonal lighting will bring people to the garden at night and to celebrate special events like Halloween and Christmas, similar to the decorative holiday displays at Connaught Hill
Park and the Central B.C. Railway and Forestry Museum.
Phases 3 and 4 would develop ornamental theme gardens, a marsh wetlands and pond, fed by Shane Creek; selective clearing of the forest to allow planting of shade-tolerant plants; and expansion of the research gardens. The visitor centre would be expanded to include banquet facilities, a solarium and a café.
Jay Lazzarin, a retired landscape architect and David Douglas Society member, offered a glimpse of what the completed four-phase $5.9 million botanical garden will look like, illustrated by a conceptual drone video fly-over of the 23-acre site, on land UNBC donated the society, just west of the Charles Jago Northern Sport Centre. The society will consult stakeholders such as the city and UNBC and will survey user groups for their input on what they would like to see in the garden. For tourists and residents there’s huge potential to make the botanical garden and attractive draw.
Construction of Phase 1 of the garden project, between the two east parking lots of the university, started in 2002 and was completed in 2018. The society raised $1.1 million for the 2.6-acre project, a series of display gardens with a bridge and waterfall feature linked by a walkway which leads to the Rotary pavilion. The garden is a warm-weather-months gathering place, used to attract the lunchtime crowd at UNBC, for wedding/graduation backdrops, and to host the society’s annual plant sale, which has helped inspire gardening enthusiasts.
The society is targeting Phase 2 as a two-year project to be completed in 2022. Construction of Phase 3, projected to cost $1.74 million, is slated for completion between 2024-2026. Phase 4, at $1.29 million, will require another two years, to be finished in 2028.
The society, which formed in 1991, plans to step up its campaign to sell annual memberships to the public through its website, ddbotgarden.bc.ca. Membership dues are $35 (family), $25 (seniors) and $20 (students).