However, as he surveyed the property he envisioned something greater: turning the quarry into a botanical garden, harnessing the dramatic cliffs, water features, and micro-habitats to create aesthetic experiences.
In the early 1990s Dr. Webber and his small team began stabilizing the quarry walls, creating paths, building water cascades and ponds, and planting thousands of species of plants—both native and exotic. The transformation was painstaking: “rock by rock” the walkways and walls were created, and the gardens gradually emerged within the stretch of disturbed industrial land.
In partnership with a community of volunteers and horticultural enthusiasts, Webber determined to donate the property for public benefit. The property’s size, topography, and setting allowed for a unique garden experience—one unlike traditional flat gardens, but shaped by the quarry’s contours.
Garden Development: Creation of the Botanical Landscape
As the 1990s progressed, major efforts were made to convert the former industrial site into a botanical garden. Key design elements included:
- Constructing waterfalls and streams within the quarry floor.
- Building bridges, pavilions, and observation points so visitors could traverse the vertical space of the quarry.
- Planting diverse flora: ferns, palms, orchids, succulents, native trees (oaks, cedars, pecans) and exotic plantings.
- Incorporating ponds stocked with koi fish, turtles, and other water-life, enhancing the ecology and visitor experience.
- Designing the garden with aesthetic influences reminiscent of Japanese style gardens—because Dr. Webber visited Japan and was inspired by that culture and design sensibility.
By the early 2000s the property had taken shape as a lush, multi-layered environment: shaded forest canopy above, water features below, rock walls all around, and a garden of surprising fullness. The remnants of the quarry—its walls and floors—were no longer the scars of extraction, but the dramatic setting for waterfalls and garden rooms. shutdown123