The Gardens of the White River

Editor, Stephen Kelly

Leaving the Water Garden, visitors enter the Shade Garden through this arbor, which references the farm silos of Indiana. The low seat walls along the water feature prompt the young at heart to interact with the custom bronze “lazy” frogs sunning themselves and spitting water into the boulder-lined basin. The seat wall cap is cut Indiana limestone and the wall a mix of Indiana fieldstone, lannon stone and granite cobbles. The walk is crushed limestone screenings and Pennisetum (fountain grass) lines the stream.

The beautiful 3.3-acre botanical attraction called White River Gardens is part of the Indianapolis Zoo and an international showplace for Indiana. Situated along the White River levee, the gardens are part of the evolving waterfront, the White River State Park, and downtown Indianapolis.

A 1996 master plan by Rundell Ernstberger Associates, LLC for the Indianapolis Zoological Society recommended the zoo turn its attention to the burgeoning landscape development along the White River by constructing a public garden by the river levee and converting an existing parking lot into a landmark city amenity. (Editor’s note: The west fork of the White River winds through Indianapolis, then meets up with its eastern fork before flowing into the Wabash River at the Indiana/Illinois border.)

The zoo originally intended to just build a small garden within its confines, but one year later designs for a $14 million, three-acre garden complex and sister institution to the Indianapolis Zoo —the White River Gardens—were unveiled.

WRG includes a botanical garden, 1.5 miles of walkways, the striking glass-enclosed Hilbert Conservatory, the Dick Crum Resource Center, demonstration gardens, a water garden, a wedding garden for ceremonies and receptions, gift shop and indoor/outdoor dining facilities with dramatic views of the downtown skyline and riverfront. People come to the gardens to enjoy nature’s bounty, collect plant information from the resource room; some get married here, others, less committed, simply enjoy strolling the pathways redolent of flowers.

WRG was the first major development undertaken by the Indianapolis Zoological Society after the zoo opened at its present location in 1988. Funded by donations and grants, the project opened on June 13, 1999. The gardens were a separate attraction from 1999 to 2006, but are now included as part of the Indianapolis Zoo.

The reflecting pond in the Water Garden is home to an extremely laid-back frog enjoying the sun, water, lily pads and petunias.

The Landscape Architects & Design Team

Rundell Ernstberger Associates (REA) was the lead design firm for the gardens and primary client contact. REA was responsible for directing the design of all aspects of the project, including the conceptual design of the building, and design and detailing all exterior sitework, including walls, paths, garden structures, fountains, sculptural elements, woodwork, fencing, plantings, utilities and mechanical and electrical systems. REA coordinated the work of a design team of architects, engineers, fountain and lighting consultants—Woollen, Molzan and Partners, Moore Engineers, TT-CBM Engineers and Lynch, and Harrison and Brumleve, Inc. Hagerman Construction Co. was the general contractor.

This sculpture piece is the “Four Seasons” by Indiana artist Amy Brier. It includes four hand-carved 14-inch limestone balls with designs, one to represent each season. Winter is represented by snowflakes; spring by leaves and ferns; summer by flowering plants and insects; and autumn by oak and maple tree leaves. The designs on the balls leave their impressions in the sand when rolled.

REA initiated the involvement of several artisans and craftsmen in the project—stone carvers, metals fabricators, muralists, carpenters and fencing fabricators—and directed the integration of their work into the overall garden design. REA also prepared conceptual graphics used in the fundraising for the project, did the conceptual design of interior floor and wall masonry patterns, the conservatory layout and interior plantings, assisted in developing interpretive content, oversaw construction of the project and assisted the landscape contractor in the field to implement plantings and make critical onsite adjustments.

The carved limestone fountain, conceived by Rundell Ernstberger Associates (REA) and executed by Dale Enochs, sits at the beginning of the Sun Garden stream and serves as its water source. The sculpture is also custom carved in limestone by Dale Enochs.

A Design Tribute to the Midwestern Landscape Vernacular

Eric Ernstberger, REA principal and lead designer for the WRG project, explains the philosophy behind the design of the garden was inspired by the agrarian culture of the Midwest and the richness of its forms and textures. “The gardens provide the public with inspiration, practical tools and resources for implementing effective and imaginative garden designs and are a living reminder of, and testament to, the beauty and artistry to be found in the mid-western landscape,” says Mr. Ernstberger.

The project was conceived, designed, and constructed with great attention to connecting building and site through architectural form and massing, masonry materials and consistency of detailing. The structure of the gardens is defined by a variety of masonry walls constructed of native fieldstone, limestone, and brick. The pathways consist of stone, brick and crushed stone.

Architectural features include stainless steel vine towers and trellises, wooden pergolas and trellises and carved stone sculptures and fountains. The agrarian garden concept was carried out in the architectural forms, in the rich diversity of native materials and plantings, in the integration of the work of local artists and artisans and in the unity of building and site.

The entrance to White River Gardens is a silo-shaped building whose interior rotunda displays a spectacular 360-degree mural, a tribute to Midwest gardening.

A significant design challenge was to provide a variety of experiences within the relatively small 3.3 acre site. This was achieved in part through thoughtful transitions between garden spaces, intriguing sightlines and small surprises and discoveries that delight visitors as they make their way through the garden. Within the gardens are several smaller “garden rooms” designed to create the illusion of spaciousness in a relatively small area. Each garden room is designed around a particular theme or idea and contains a rich diversity of hardscape elements, art installations, and plant materials. These occur in a variety of shapes, textures and colors selected to complement and reinforce the form and meaning of each small space. One notable environmental improvement was converting a parking lot to a garden that used native materials and preserved existing vegetation. The various garden rooms include:

• Tiergarten (Dutch for “animal park”)—a formal garden area with whimsical custom cast bronze sculptures of animals that reference the garden’s relationship to the adjacent Indianapolis Zoo. The garden is filled with the small mammals and amphibians one would expect to find in a garden. Water Garden—a formal garden area with reflecting pools.Sun Garden—an informal garden space that includes a meandering stream and native sedge meadow and prairie meadow plantings.Shade Garden—a native woodland area with spring ephemerals and other native woodland perennials, and Indiana hardwood trees such as blue beech, bald cypress and a variety of oaks.Bud Schaefer Rotunda entrance, the Hilbert Conservatory and the Hulman Riverhouse dining facility: a grouping of buildings at the park entrance that reference the agrarian buildings of the Indiana landscape including the grain silo and barn.Knot Garden—on axis with the Hilbert Conservatory, this formal garden includes clipped evergreen hedges and a changing display of colorful seasonal annuals.Idea Garden—a space containing 12 idea garden rooms that demonstrate to visitors examples of different design techniques such as asymmetry, pattern, motion, and color in the landscape.
• Wedding Garden—an outdoor room with circular lawn and a vine covered pergola used frequently for weddings and other special events.

Outside the Hilbert Conservatory are trellises of Palupe wood and stainless steel, Indiana limestone benches and a carved limestone font. Custom bronze frogs, turtles and squirrels occupy granite bases. The critters were conceived by REA, designed by REA and Jan Martin and created by Jan Martin. The pavement is a custom detailed granolithic (exterior terrazzo). A yew hedge and annual begonias are the foreground plantings. The glass and steel structure of the conservatory makes for interesting night visuals.

Water in the White River Garden

Visitors to the garden are quickly engaged and enticed by the water features they encounter. “As water is central to all living things,” notes Mr. Ernstberger, “it follows that water should play a central role in the WRG design, an expression of botanical life.” The limestone carving, “Earth Stone,” is the symbolic point of origin of water for the entire garden and a central element. The sculpture is in the heart of the garden, anchoring one end of the Tiergarten, and is on axis with the Hilbert Conservatory. From there, water weaves through the garden, reappearing in various places as it might in the rural Indiana landscape, providing orientation and separation between garden rooms.

“The water features are scaled and placed in close proximity to the visitor so that they can be touched, heard and experienced at an intimate level,” explains Mr. Ernstberger.

Washingtonia palms dominate the 5,000 sq. ft. Hilbert Conservatory. The glass structure is 65 feet tall and has a 12-foot high mezzanine level. The water feature here is a custom carved limestone quarry block fountain conceived by REA and created by Dale Enochs. This is one of five fountains in the gardens. Water bubbles from the top of each and makes its way along the crevices and depressions of the stone. Each week from March 21 to Sept. 2 the conservatory receives some 1,500 butterfly pupae from suppliers in Florida, Costa Rica and Africa. The chrysalids are glued to PVC rods. There are some 1,000 to 1,500 butterflies aloft at any give time. Their average life span is two weeks.

This ability to interact with the water elements is a compelling feature of the garden’s five Indiana limestone fountain fonts, four located in the knot garden and the fifth inside the conservatory. Water bubbles from the top of each fountain and makes its way along the crevices and depressions of the stone. Children, of course, are drawn to play in the gently bubbling water, but adults also enjoy dipping their hands in the water and feeling the contrasting rough and smooth stone surfaces. The limestone block for each font was handpicked. Their surfaces replicate naturally occurring Indiana landscapes —a cliff, a ravine, a meandering creek, a limestone outcropping, a farm pond or a waterfall.

Begonias (the purple flowers) and a hemlock hedge decorate the pool—one of four identical lily ponds in the Water Garden with curved Indiana limestone coping. The Vining Towers, constructed of stainless steel and copper, are designed and detailed by REA and fabricated by Jan Martin. The towers support vines and serve as “garden follies” to mark entries into garden areas. Other towers, One America Tower and Chase Bank Tower in downtown Indianapolis are in the distance.

On a larger scale, an artificial meandering stream invites exploration in the Sun Garden. A carved limestone font, conceived by REA and carved by Indiana artist Dale Enochs, serves as the source of water for this feature. As the stream winds its way through the Sun Garden, visitors encounter Indiana granite boulders and cut limestone slab steppingstones that permit crossing. The stream feeds into a lily pond, with a whimsical and mischievous trio of cast bronze mallards out for a stroll along its bank.

The Idea Garden pool is located in the Asymmetry Garden, one of 12 themed gardens contained within the Idea Garden. It features a custom carved limestone font by Dale Enochs. The basin is clad with lannon stone, with adjacent bluestone pavers.

Showcase

REA sees the gardens as a showcase of landscape architecture for the region and a powerful demonstration of the range of skills of landscape architects. The gardens are a major tourist attraction for Indianapolis and complement current downtown and White River State Park developments, including the central waterfront project, NCAA national headquarters, the Indiana State Museum and Conseco Fieldhouse.

The man-made stream in the Sun Garden begins at a carved limestone font, meanders, then terminates at the lily pond. Granite Indiana fieldstone boulders, cut Indiana limestone-slab stepping stones and path edging of Minnesota stone are the hardscapes. The grass-like plants are a mix of native sedges, including Carex lurida (Bottlebrush), Carex stricta (Tussock) and Carex vulpinoidea (Fox).

The gardens display over 1,000 plant varieties, water elements, inspired designs and special exhibits throughout the year, and there are plans to make the gardens accessible through Indianapolis’ expanding greenways system.

The carved Indiana limestone font at the center of the Water Garden was conceived by REA and executed by Dale Enochs. The water comes from the adjacent reflecting ponds. Endicott clay pavers surround the font and are accented by petunias.

The meandering Sun Garden stream terminates at the Lily Pond, where the visitor comes upon a whimsical and mischievous trio of cast bronze mallards out for a stroll along its banks. The ducks are custom cast bronze designed by REA and made by Jan Martin.