Pittsburgh Botanic Garden
Programs
Visitor Experience and Education Programs
Visitor Experience: Through its facilities, gardens and woodlands, and programs, Pittsburgh Botanic Garden strives to increase the number of individuals exposed to the natural beauty of the Allegheny Plateau region. The Garden's mission is grounded in the belief that connecting with plants is fundamentally important to the emotional and physical well-being of all people.Since opening to the public in 2015, nearly 400,000 individuals have visited the garden to explore, learn or celebrate a milestone. In addition to visitation, membership also has grown steadily with over 3,700 households.** See continuation on Schedule O **As an outdoor public garden, Pittsburgh Botanic Garden offers gardens and woodlands for all to connect to plants while exploring the native habitats of the Allegheny Plateau ecoregion. During the summer of 2024, the Garden hosted David Roger's Big Bugs + Pollinators Exhibit. Using these sculptures, the Garden introduced children to the ecological importance of pollinators and beneficial insects and ways to support their habitats through a strong connection to plantsYear-round highlights for visitors include these garden features: Garden of the Five Senses - This garden encourages children of all ages and abilities to touch, hear, smell, taste and see the natural world around them. Filled with hands-on activities for exploration, this is the garden for families to learn and connect with nature. You also will find the Discovery Cart, filled with constantly changing artifacts to spark curiosity in young minds. The Weisbrod Learning Pavilion provides an outdoor space for school field trips and drop-in programs for visitors.Hillside Pollinator Garden - Colorful, all-season blooms invite you and pollinators to visit this gently sloping hillside. The swaths of cultivars of native perennials burst each season to take center stage. Stroll along or take a moment on GB's Overlook to view a pollinator at work. Exhibit Garden - On October 1, 2021, Carbon Cycle: An Earth Art Exhibit opened as the first exhibit featured in the new garden area. Carbon Cycle is an immersive experience for guests as they walk a serpentine path to find the artist Gary Smith's piece made of materials of the site.The Garden's Welcome Center is a 7,500-square-foot facility which greets visitors entering the gardens and woodlands and transports them to a place of exploration, wonder, and learning. The Welcome Center is home to the Welcome Desk, Forage & Finds, Canopy Cafe, Peirce Education Rooms and Courtyard Garden, the Zappala Woodland Room and its Art Gallery, featuring local artists year-round.GeographiesNot indicatedDatesOct 1, 2023 – Sep 30, 2024Source990No causes providedNo populations provided–$1.7MHorticulture and Environmental Conservation
Horticulture: Pittsburgh Botanic Garden inspires people to value plants, garden design and the natural world by cultivating plant collections of the Allegheny Plateau and temperate regions, creating display gardens, conducting educational programs and conserving the environment. ** See continutation on Schedule O **The Garden is a qualified caretaker of 460 acres of southwest Pennsylvania's land and water. Dedicated staff and volunteers create and maintain this space as a habitat for native flora and fauna. In addition to ongoing conservation efforts such as mitigating acid mine drainage and reforestation projects, the Garden provides 65 acres of cultivated gardens and woodlands for the public to connect to plants. Through this innate experience: young minds are engaged, gardeners are inspired, and all visitors find a sense of calm.Central to the story of Pittsburgh Botanic Garden is the poor condition of the site upon which it is being built. Left in a deplorable state following coal extraction throughout the first half of the 20th Century, the land was unfit for most uses and even dangerous in spots. Further damage was caused by flooding of the mines beneath the surface in 2004, which exposed a severe acid mine drainage problem. The land and water are being reclaimed and repaired. Abandoned mine features, invasive species and poor site conditions are being replaced by educational gardens, reconstructed woodlands, and lovely views. The Garden is providing long-term benefits, including carbon capture, superior soil conservation and lasting habitat improvement.A few conservation highlights since beginning its land and water reclamation efforts in 2014: -15,000 native saplings were planted to reforest an abandoned mine site. The Garden collaborated with Western Pennsylvania Conservancy, United States Office of Surface Mining and Plant Five for Life. -The Appalachian Regional Reforestation Initiative provided expert advice on tree species that thrive on reclaimed soils. -The Garden's efforts are successful with more than 80 percent of the planted trees thriving. Horticulture staff and volunteers continue to tend to and monitor this future forest. -With no chemical treatments or energy inputs, and minimal maintenance, water once considered 'dead' now supports a healthy aquatic ecosystem. The Garden operates three passive, water filter systems which neutralize more than 25 million gallons of acid mine discharge each year, prior to it entering the region's watershed and then the Ohio River. -The first innovative filter system to be installed creates the Garden's Lotus Pond, a focal point of the Japanese Garden. The Garden was recognized for this system as the recipient of the 2014 Pennsylvania Governor's Award for Environmental Excellence. -The Garden's work in mitigating acid mine drainage is recognized by the U.S. Office of Surface Mining as a national model and has since been duplicated elsewhere.GeographiesNot indicatedDatesOct 1, 2023 – Sep 30, 2024Source990No causes providedNo populations provided–$1.1MEnvironmental Education and Stewardship
Education: With education a cornerstone of its mission, Pittsburgh Botanic Garden is able to use its restoration of former coal mining land as a living laboratory for adults and children to engage in environmental stewardship and develop a conservation mindset.Exposure to nature in a beautiful and safe environment through guidance of mentors helps foster connection with the natural world. In an era of increased time spent indoors, children and young adults need an opportunity to connect with nature for their personal growth and to develop the stewardship behaviors that will contribute to a healthier, more sustainable and just future.** See continuation on Schedule O ** The education programming at Pittsburgh Botanic Garden is a mix of formal classes and self-discovery opportunities throughout the gardens and woodlands. Adult classes and workshops are held on a wide range of topics for beginner and experienced gardeners as well as ways to connect to plants in a variety of ways, such as through photography and art programs. Children and families learn together while exploring the gardens and woodlands through self-discovery and the assistance of interpretive signage or a stop by the Discovery Cart. The Garden education team partners with regional school districts to host curriculum-based field trips. Students are exposed to Science Technology Engineering Agriculture/Art and Mathematics (STEAM) in a unique environment that cannot be duplicated in a classroom.GeographiesNot indicatedDatesOct 1, 2023 – Sep 30, 2024Source990No causes providedNo populations provided–$371.9K
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