My project discusses the important aspects of the creation of a botanical garden through a detailed literature review of botanical garden manuals and journals detailing the benefits arising from botanical gardens, as well as interviews with executive directors and directors of horticulture from botanicals gardens throughout Wisconsin and Iowa. The crux of the project involves taking this wide overview and creating guidelines for someone trying to create a garden in a small town that is far away from a city center that would have it’s own.

My capstone project has been one of the hardest things I have ever done. The amount of research and writing that I had to do pushed me to my academic limits. That being said, I feel that I am looking at day to day issues in my job and just in the world around me that I approach in a multifaceted way because this capstone has required me to stretch my mind to solve problems from different directions in order to know that I have done the job right. This has been a wonderful experience and I am proud of the work that I’ve done.