- San Luis Obispo Botanical Garden
The San Luis Obispo Botanical Garden, when completed, will be a 150 acre (60 ha) garden displaying the diverse plant life of five Mediterranean climate zones of the world; California, Chile, Australia, South Africa and the countries surrounding the Mediterranean Sea. The grounds for the future garden are located in
El Chorro Regional Park , in rolling hills on the central coast ofCalifornia , betweenSan Luis Obispo andMorro Bay, California , USA.The first idea for the garden began in 1989, and in 1991 the Friends of SLO Botanical Garden was incorporated. In 1993, a 40-year renewable lease for 150 acres (60 ha) was signed with San Luis Obispo County. The two-acre Preview Garden was opened in 1997. The master plan was completed in 1998, as was the greenhouse and nursery. The convert|4000|sqft|m2|sing=on green, sustainably-built educational center was opened in 2007.
Work is now underway to build the entire garden. When complete, the San Luis Obispo Botanical Garden will be one of the largest botanical gardens in the western United States, with the following areas:
* The California garden will be 47.40 acres (19.2 ha) with nine collections: oak woodland, mixed evergreen forest, grassland, coastal scrub,
chaparral , sycamore glen, agave-yucca rise, riparian forest and wetland. It will display specimens fromBaja California northward to a point about halfway betweenSan Francisco and Eureka.* The
Mediterranean Basin garden 11.50 acres (4.7 ha) will be organized into three collections; oasis,Canary Island crest, and Mediterranean slope.* The
Chile garden 20.43 acres (8.3 ha) will be devoted to the flora of central Chile with seven separate collections; araucaria crest, southern beech forest, coastal matorral, puya palisades, Chilean arroyo, Chilean mixed forest and Chilean palm grove.* The
South Africa garden 7.63 acres (3.1 ha) will contain three collections: Cape succulents (theCape of Good Hope area is home to the richest succulent flora in the world), floral carpet of the Cape and a tapestry of diverse vegetation woven into a continuous shrub land.* The South and Southern Western
Australia garden 12.50 acres (5.1 ha) will hold four collections from two areas of Australia; a garden of the protea family,kwongan (small groupings ofeucalyptus woodlands and associated thickets), karri, marri, and jarrah forest (a display of giant eucalyptus trees that rank among the tallest trees in the world) and grass tree slope.* The Orchard, Vineyard and Entry Plantings 12 acres (4.9 ha) will highlight plants of economic importance - orchards of
grape s,walnut s,pistachio s,olive s and other productive plants of the Mediterranean climate areas with naturalized flowering ground covers from each region. It will also include an avenue of Mediterranean cypress intermixed with a broad leaf evergreen canopy lines the entry road.* The Gardens of Exploration 11 acres (4.5 ha) will contain groupings of demonstration gardens. Five general areas have been identified: horticultural therapy, ecology, biology, cultural influences and horticultural opportunities.
See also
*
List of botanical gardens in the United States External links
* [http://www.slobg.org/index.htm Homepage]
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