Cherry Tree Blooms Greet New Water Conservation Project at Brooklyn Botanic Garden

The Brooklyn Botanic Garden was in prime bloom today to celebrate the completion of a multi-year project to make the garden more sustainable.

The ribbon was cut today on an earth friendly water conservation project that collects, filters and recirculates rain and groundwater through the garden. The water project also involved the creation of some new scenic features for visitors to enjoy, such as new bridges and a new water garden at the southern end of botanic garden.

The completion also means that the Japanese Hill-and-Pond Garden, which has been closed during construction, has reopened in time for prime cherry season.

Storm runoff will now be fed into the Japanese Hill-and-Pond Garden where it can be stored and feed Belle’s Brook, a meandering waterway that runs through the Plant Family Collection to the new Shelby White and Leon Levy Water Garden, designed by Michael Van Valkenburgh Associates.

There are four new wooden bridges for visitors to cross over the bubbling brook, and benches have been placed for prime relaxing views. New plantings, including shrubs, bulbs and ferns, will fill in for a lush waterside garden.

It’s estimated that the new water conservation system will reduce the garden’s freshwater usage from about 22 million gallons to about 900,000 gallons per year as well as significantly reduce storm-water discharge.

Only a portion of the pathway around the Japanese Hill-and-Pond Garden was open this morning, and the rest of the walk is set to re-open by the end of the week. That will be in plenty of time to catch the beauty of the cherry blossoms, as there are still many specimens that are just beginning to bloom.

[Photos by Susan De Vries]

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