Enter the Wandering Woodland – A Living Storybook at Leach Botanical Garden
By Greg Dahlke, Landscape Architect
As part of Leach Botanical Garden’s dynamic transformation, the upper meadow is being reimagined as the Wandering Woodland—a temporary yet impactful space for families and children to explore, play, and connect with the natural world. Designed with a lifespan of about ten years, this evolving landscape sets the stage for a future series of aquatic-themed gardens that will manage site water from upcoming developments.
The Wandering Woodland is organized as a series of nature-inspired garden education rooms, each with its own story to tell. Visitors enter through two sculptural portals representing the Sun and Moon, signaling a whimsical threshold into a world of curiosity and play. Just beyond, a woodland-inspired zone of stacked logs, shade-loving plants, and a tucked-away woven willow egg invites quiet retreat and discovery, sparking curiosity about fungi and forest life.
A playful path of colorful, staggered 4x8 timber beams winds through dramatic plantings of Gunnera and Rice Paper plant, guiding movement and imagination. A nearby mound, refreshed with sod and bright annuals, becomes an active play zone with meandering paths and willow structures meant for weaving and interaction.
As visitors venture deeper, they encounter artistic and playful elements: a tree trunk mound, a gravel maze edged with textured plants, and open spaces for climbing and running. At the woodland’s summit, a shady lookout welcomes rest, where vertical and horizontal logs create playful perches and hammock nooks.
Anchoring the experience is a 30-foot stage made from upright and laid tree trunks—an adaptable space for gathering, performance, and celebration. Just downhill, a mulch-lined seating area embraced by trees offers calm, flexible seating and views of the stage, blending reflection with imaginative play.
The Wandering Woodland brings the Garden’s commitment to environmental stewardship, creativity, and joyful learning to life—one storybook garden room at a time.