The Founders Garden is officially open! This garden showcases unique horticultural skills and is designed to demonstrate the transforming beauty of the gardens. The Founders Garden is inspired by an Iowa sand prairie, and features a custom, native annual seed mix and native ornamental grasses. The Founders Garden commemorates the many forward-thinking individuals who brought the Botanical Garden to life, and is a tribute to Tom Urban, one of four individuals (J.C. “Buz” Brenton, Tom Urban, Janis Ruan, and Fred Weitz) who endeavored to establish a renewed botanical garden in Des Moines in 2008. The garden features a steel sculpture of a Combretaceae leaf entitled “Threshold” created by internationally recognized Basque artist Juanjo Novella. CDA had the pleasure of completing all of the civil engineering and surveying services associated with this latest improvement. 
