|
|
|
|
Board of Directors |
Click
here to see the members of the
Board of Directors. |
| |
Science Advisory Board |
Click
here to see the members of the
Science Advisory Board and its goals and
activities. |
|
|
|
Mission Statement
|
|
|
|
The mission of
the San Luis Obispo Botanical Garden is to
display the diverse plant life of the
Mediterranean climate zones of the world and
to provide opportunities for education,
recreation, conservation and research.
Through its programs and facilities, the Garden will
foster an appreciation and understanding of
the relationship between people and nature
and will encourage a sense of stewardship
toward the natural environment.
|
|
|
| |
Friends of the Garden |
|
|
|
Members of the San Luis Obispo Botanical
Garden receive Garden publications, including the quarterly
newsletter, and invitations to Garden activities. Membership
also provides the opportunity to help create an educational and
cultural resource that will epitomize the best of California: an
appreciation of the landscape and of natural resources, an
openness to new ideas, and the optimism to create something
special for future generations.
|
| |
History of the Garden |
|
|
The first seeds for the Garden were planted
in 1989, with the support of San Luis County Parks
Department. Incorporated in 1991, a grassroots group, the
Friends of SLO Botanical Garden, began searching for an ideal site.
|
|
|
El Chorro Regional Park was chosen because it offered
a convenient location between San Luis Obispo and Morro Bay,
good soils, no horticultural limitations, and already was zoned
as a public space. A 40-year renewable lease agreement was signed
with San Luis Obispo County in 1993 for 150 acres.
|
 |
The road leading into the Preview Garden |
|
|
|
|
With grants of financial assistance from the
Stanley Smith Horticultural Trust and the County of San
Luis Obispo, a nationally-known landscape design studio
was hired to create a master plan for the 150 acres. This
plan, completed in 1998, later won the prestigious Analysis
and Planning Award from the American Society of Landscape
Architects.
|
|
 |
The small creek running through the
Preview Garden |
|
Meanwhile, a one-acre Preview Garden, constructed
with work by Cal Poly students, opened in 1997, providing a
place for monthly educational programs (Saturday at the Garden),
school tours, lectures, demonstrations, a Garden Shop, and a
variety of special activities for children.
|
|
|
|
A full-scale greenhouse/nursery, completed in
1998, produces plants for the Preview Garden, for County
parks, and for our plant sales.
|
|
|
|
Also in 1998, the SLOBG website (www.slobg.org)
was launched. It describes the Garden, lists coming events,
features pictures and descriptions of plants, and provides a
searchable database of a wide variety of Mediterranean plants.
|
 |
One of the paths leading through
the Preview Garden |
|
|
|
|
Ground was broken in 2004 for the Education Center,
which is to be a model of sustainable design, including straw bale
construction, passive solar heating, and on-site waste-water
treatment. The building is to be an integral part of our
educational mission, with activities for all ages in the
multipurpose room or outdoor patio. It also will be available
for various community groups.
The Botanical Garden continues to grow toward its
goal of becoming a world-class educational facility,
demonstrating conservation of resources through sustainable
gardening and architecture. |
|
Top |
|
|
|
|
