Total Landscape Care Digital Magazine
Issue link: https://read.dmtmag.com/i/391858
W hen the Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens opened in 2007, it was after 15 years of planning, planting and building by a com- mitted core of believers. In the seven years since, Coastal Maine Botani- cal Gardens (mainegardens.org) has evolved into a site that includes a visitor's center, education center and several themed gardens and trails. It's now one of southern Maine's prime attractions, with reviewers on TripAdvisor giving it an excellent rating. "We expected to get 15,000 visitors our first year and initially designed the gardens to top out at 35,000 to 40,000 visitors a year," says William Cul- lina, executive director. "We reached that number in our first year, so we were basically undersized from the beginning." The Boothbay-area gardens expect to see 105,000 visitors this year and now stretches across 270 acres of tidal shoreland. Since the site has more than doubled in size from its original 128 acres, the gardens' leadership is working to create a second master plan. "We're looking at adding another 15 to 20 acres of display gardens, a conservatory, greenhouses, O C T O B E R 2 014 To t a l L a n d s c a p e C a r e . c o m 7 Report: Field news, trends & cool stuff Popular Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens poised to expand again Flourishing Gardens BY MARCIA GRUVER DOYLE (Above) When the Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens first bought the site in 1996, they purchased 128 acres of land and 3,600 feet of tidal shore frontage in Boothbay.