Gardens
Visit Our Learning Gardens
Explore gardens where visitors learn, relax, and see nature-based practices in action.
We designed, established, and tend a network of community learning gardens where food and wildlife habitat grow side-by-side.
Visitors are welcome to wander, enjoy, and freely harvest vegetables, herbs, and fruits.
Got gardening questions? Ask a Nature Educator.
From May through October, our garden educators can help you:
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Increase yields in your vegetable and herb gardens.
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Successfully grow fruit trees and berry bushes.
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Respond to climate change with resilient gardening practices.
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Grow habitat for pollinators and other wildlife alongside your edible plants.
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Deepen your connection with nature, neighbors, and community spaces.
You may find a nature educator in the garden, but contact us if you'd like to arrange a one-on-one visit.
Edible Classroom
220 South Gilbert St, Iowa City
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A small, downtown garden filled with fruits, vegetables, and herbs that are free to harvest. Tucked among city streets with plenty of seating, it is a cozy place to see how much food a tiny space can grow while still caring for soil, water, and pollinators.
McPherson Edible Forest
1858 7th Ave Court, Iowa City
A medium-sized edible forest where you can explore fruit trees, berry bushes, groundcovers, medicinal herbs, and a welcoming pollinator garden at the entrance. It is a great place to see how layered plantings create beauty, food, and habitat all in one shared space.
Wetherby Edible Forest
2400 Taylor Dr, Iowa City
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A wilder, forest-style garden designed to look and function more like nature than a tidy park. Here, fruit trees, shrubs, herbs, and native plants mingle in a diverse landscape that grows food, shelters wildlife, and shows what an evolving edible ecosystem can look like.
GuideLink Center Renewal Garden
300 Southgate Ave, Iowa City
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A private courtyard garden designed to support people receiving 24/7 mental health and substance use care at GuideLink Center. Quiet plantings, gentle paths, and sensory-friendly features create a serene, therapeutic space where clients and staff can catch their breath and feel supported by nature.