Garden trowels pushed into potting soil at Texas A&M University marked the beginning of The Gardens at Texas A&M University.


Construction on the 7-acre Leach Teaching Garden is expected to be completed by early 2018, according to Dr. Mark Hussey, Vice Chancellor and Dean of Agriculture and Life Sciences at Texas A&M. It will include a pavilion and thematic gardens such as a rain garden, food and fiber field, vegetable beds, butterfly and bee garden, and Earth-Kind plantings.

This project has been waiting to sprout for decades. At least 25 years ago, the Texas A&M University System's board of regents designated the area along White Creek a greenbelt, meaning no permanent construction could be built there.

A group of landscape architect graduate students in the College of Architecture devised the larger plan for 27 acres, which was then overseen by Dr. Doug Welsh, professor emeritus and former horticulture department associate head. "He shared a passion for the project and has been a great ambassador for getting it going," Hussey said of Welsh.

Hussey said the project will not only provide a place to learn and relax for students but also for residents and visitors of the Bryan-College Station area as well.

"It is not just for the students at Texas A&M. We will be engaging the K-12 group, and people who come to visit the George Bush Museum will spend some time in The Gardens," he said. "[it] will be viewed as a source of pride not only for us at Texas A&M but for the community."

"Gardens have been part of the heritage of many universities," Hussey said. "They vary tremendously. Most of them showcase ornamentals, offer space to relax or showcase art. We will have that in these gardens. But what is really unique about ours is that it is actually a teaching garden. It is one that is going to be used both for teaching as well as the more typical garden aspect that you'd have in a botanical garden.

Learn more about this large scale project and its impact on our website.


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