Castle Gardens at Yew Dell Botanical Gardens
by Richard Hartlage, Founding Partner
Land Morphology’s design for the Castle Gardens creates a single compelling garden for gathering and horticultural displays.
Transformation
Castle Gardens is a multifaceted, multi-purpose new garden at Yew Dell Botanical Gardens, transforming a once utilitarian landscape into a vibrant destination for visitors, members, and the broader community. The project replaces an aging swimming pool, asphalt driveway, and parking area that once served the former residence—now the garden’s administrative offices—with a cohesive, accessible, and richly planted garden environment.
The Castle has long delighted visitors and stands as one of Yew Dell’s most iconic features.
The new garden is located adjacent to Yew Dell’s beloved Castle, a whimsical structure built in the 1960s and ’70s by garden founder Theodore Kline as a party and pool house for his children. The Castle has long delighted visitors and stands as one of Yew Dell’s most iconic features. The upper terrace of Castle Gardens occupies the footprint of the former swimming pool, reimagined as a gathering space that celebrates the Castle’s fantastical character and amplifies its role as a visual and social focal point—particularly in today’s social media–driven landscape.
New trellises offer shade from the Kentucky sun.
A Garden Designed for Many Purposes
Land Morphology conceived Castle Gardens as a flexible landscape capable of serving a wide range of needs, from daily visitor enjoyment to large-scale events and educational programming.
The design addresses numerous goals:
Expanding planting areas for horticultural displays and increasing capacity for the garden’s plant collections
Unifying the former residence and the Castle within a single, compelling garden space
Managing grade changes while providing full ADA accessibility
Creating a sequence of distinct spaces suitable for rentals, social gatherings, and educational programming
Offering shaded areas for visitor comfort during Kentucky’s hot summer months
Managing stormwater in a way that is effective, educational, and visually engaging
Resolving previously confusing pedestrian circulation
Celebrating Yew Dell’s most memorable feature—the Castle—to increase visibility and social media engagement
The result is a garden that is both beautiful and highly functional, balancing aesthetic impact with operational clarity.
Design Approach and Collaboration
The architectural language of Castle Gardens is contemporary, incorporating a thoughtful mix of traditional and modern materials. De Leon & Primmer Architecture Workshop designed all new and revitalized buildings on the site, and Land Morphology took cues from their architectural vocabulary to ensure a cohesive tone across the landscape and built elements.
Arbors feature subtle lighting for evening events.
The program was complex, but through close collaboration it proved both achievable and rewarding. Yew Dell’s professional staff and a dedicated subcommittee of the Board of Directors were actively engaged throughout the design process, helping guide decisions and ensure the garden would meet long-term institutional needs.
The overall project budget totaled $5 million, with $1.5 million reserved for endowment. This endowment supports additional garden staff and enables expanded plant collections, container displays, and garden beds—ensuring the long-term success and care of Castle Gardens.
The fountain incorporates historic millstones collected by the garden’s founder, Theodore Kline.
Key Project Elements
Castle Gardens includes a wide array of new features and infrastructure improvements, including:
Two new terraces
Three arbors
A new ADA-accessible ramp
New pedestrian paths and service drives
Improved clarity and flow of visitor circulation
A new lawn area for gatherings and events
A stormwater management garden
A water feature incorporating repurposed historic millstones collected by Theodore Kline
Donor recognition and contribution opportunities
The first phase of a garden-wide irrigation system
Site and night lighting
The design transforms a once-overlooked area of the garden into a dynamic landscape that honors Yew Dell’s history, supports its future, and celebrates the joy and imagination embodied by the Castle itself.
Completion and Impact
The project was substantially completed in July 2025, with garden staff finishing planting in the lower stormwater garden in spring 2026. Donor contributions exceeded $5 million, and both the client and Board of Directors are extremely pleased with the final result.
Spring and summer 2026 mark the first full season of programming within Castle Gardens, and early visitor response has been overwhelmingly positive. Guests have been highly engaged with the space, and local news outlets have followed the project closely—from design through construction and opening—providing invaluable publicity and raising awareness of Yew Dell Botanical Gardens and its mission.
Castle Gardens enriches the experience for longtime members and visitors while creating new opportunities for revenue generation, programming, and community engagement.
Constructed by E-Z Construction.
