native

Designing and installing botanical gardens may be soul-satisfying, but it's also a remarkable professional challenge. As Raymond Jungles writes in the first of three articles on the subject, these projects have multiple audiences, each of them bringing massive expectations to the table.

Forging a Path

As a landscape architect, I'm passionate about creating gardens of every variety. But I like my work to benefit as many people as possible, so I get particularly engaged when these spaces are accessible to the general public. This explains why I love working on botanical gardens and exploring the ways they allow me to focus on plants and education in fundamental ways. Through the past 30 years, I've had the privilege of working on slices of four different botanical gardens, so I also know the

A Wild Retreat

The untamed profusion of the South Florida landscape informed the design of this expressive garden. Filled with native plants and deep, inviting waters, it's a haven for abundant local wildlife as well as a luxurious retreat for the homeowners and a haven for their pet pig. Set on a historic road in a protected-wildlife area of Coral Gables, Fla., the property had been a mango and avocado grove until Hurricane Andrew changed everything in 1992. The home, fortunately,