The
garden you see before you today was planted on almost exactly the same
spot in 1972 to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the boundary settlement.
As with Louden’s concept, this garden is a combination of art, logic and
science, the geometric design featuring 13 beds of flowers and shrubs
in a circular pattern.
Today the
garden is maintained by the park’s maintenance division with the help
of volunteers from the community. Each spring more than 700 annuals
are planted among the hedges providing visitors with spectacular
views by mid-summer.
In 1999,
with funds provided through the Recreation Fee Demonstration Program,
the park installed a gravity-fed, water-efficient irrigation system in
the garden. (In the past, when water tables went down, the park would
dip into the cisterns built by the Royal Marines to keep the garden going.)
The new irrigation system has reduced hand-watering by nearly 70 percent
enabling volunteers to manage the garden. This has freed park staff to
work on other maintenance projects, and ensured visitor enjoyment of the
garden throughout the summer.
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