Memphis Botanic Garden

 

My Big Backyard, the family garden at Memphis Botanic Garden, founded in 2009, spans 2.5 acres and serves around 32,000 children annually. MBBY as it is affectionately known by staff, is the most visited garden within the larger botanic garden and serves as a vital part of many local families’ routines.

MBBY was designed by the garden designer, Cindy Tyler of Terra Design Studios, along with the help of many local artists who contributed mosaics, welded sculptures, and concrete creations. The garden is filled with twelve distinct ‘garden rooms’, all unique in their curatorial theme and adhering to the top standards of play elements and environmental education.

This year MBBY turns 15 years old and continues to meet these standards. A year ago, the ‘Family Garden Curator’ role was conceived in order to have a full-time staff member dedicated to the continued maintenance and consistent long term strategic enhancement of the space.

Upon starting, the Curator conducted a series of town hall interviews digitally and in-person to take the temperature of visitor experience and overall satisfaction. Overwhelmingly the community emphasized that they love MBBY as it is and has been a reliable mainstay in their lives as parents and family members. Feedback concerning higher levels of inclusivity has been taken into consideration as the wider garden budgets and plans for years to come.

The MBBY team continues to seek feedback offering activities, programming, and further forums through which their voices can be heard. As MBBY grows, and its most vital stakeholders, the children of Memphis, mature with it, the MBBY team also seeks to expand its programmatic offerings within the garden in order to serve a wider age range through after-school programs such as a youth garden club.

The horticultural elements of MBBY have also continued to flourish, with the Curator working closely with the garden’s horticulturists to gradually enhance the botanical landscape throughout the space. The plants of MBBY not only provide a sense of beauty and peace for visitors but also serve an educational purpose, and the team is making a concentrated effort to blend horticultural and educational elements more fluidly.

As MBBY continues on, strategically we hope to continue to bolster investments from these existing stakeholders to whom we have demonstrated the lasting value of a space like MBBY within the Memphis community, and why it is well worthy of future investment and consideration. As we plan for capital projects down the road, the ongoing maintenance and improvement of MBBY and all family offerings, are highly considered and prioritized.