The Playgrounds Issue of Landscape Architect & Specifier News saw many firms submit their projects for feature consideration. This project was not chosen for a Feature in the issue, but we at LandscapeArchitect.com thought the project deserved to be showcased online . . .
Nestled in a highly populated area of Largo, Florida, is a green oasis where the local community can be emersed amongst exotic and tropical plants, including fruit, large palms and native flora and fauna. With over 1 million inhabitants, it is the smallest county but one of the most densely populated in the US. The Florida Botanical Gardens is a 100-acre Park, managed by the Pinellas County Parks and Conservation Resources Department, and supported by the Florida Botanical Gardens Foundation.
The Gardens were created over 20 years ago and aim to inspire and educate visitors whilst providing a haven for local wildlife including alligators - the McKay Creek runs alongside the gardens and the large pond has a viewing deck to spot alligators with their offspring. With a tropical fruit garden, wetlands walkway and butterfly garden there is plenty for all to experience, and now there is a dedicated space for children to have a multi-sensory garden providing the opportunity to promote nature to children in a playful and interactive way.
The new Majeed Discovery Garden came about after organisers realised there wasn't space for children to touch and play. As John Thomas, Board President of the Florida Botanical Gardens Foundation, says, "there was plenty of opportunity for children to look and see the gardens but no activities for them to touch and explore".

 
And so, organisers set about to create a three-million-dollar project focused on education for children. After a generous donation from The Majeed Family Donation the organisers engaged with conservation organizers and consultants to explore what opportunities there could be for the garden. They identified a large site and with a grant from the state of Florida and The Berolzheimer Foundation, work began.
John Thomas, co-founder of Beals and Thomas, has always been interested in how to connect children with nature. He says, "we wanted to create a masterplan for future needs of the park and after realising the focus of the park has been on education for adults and not children, we set about to make a change and create a space where children can be interactive, including creating music!".
The gardens already included some percussion instruments but with this new project, there was scope to create a Music Forest that would truly be inspired by nature. This 'inspired by nature' theme can be seen in the 'Pollinator Landing' which includes a stage for children to play and act out.
Curtis McMahon, a landscape architect from Coyle and Caron Landscape Architecture worked on the project and came across Percussion Play when researching instruments for the Music Forest. They chose 3 Cajon's s and the Colossus Chimes which are inspired by the sounds of plants. Set out in a piano key they incorporated bamboo planting near the garden to mirror the chimes - when wind rushes through the plants, this creates sound.
The Construction Manager, Keith Hartsfield, enjoyed working on the Majeed Discovery Garden. Keith says, "normally I build buildings and there are some really neat children's playground, activity areas around but this is all custom built. Along with the music garden and the honeycomb climbers, it's a unique space".'
After a Grand Opening, the garden is today being enjoyed by everyone- not only children. The Children's Garden Facilitator regularly uses the space to host school field trips and people can even have their birthday parties in the space!

Jessie Wingar, Children's Garden Educator from Florida Botanical Gardens says, "music is all around us and especially in nature. Children love music and it encourages exploration. Also due to the size of the chimes, these are instruments that community members may not see all the time. It also provides an opportunity to add another arts element to the garden!"
Florida Botanical Gardens is a true oasis in the midst of a concrete, urban environment and now this oasis has the sweet sound of music.

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