Riparian Stream Bed at Zilker Botanical Garden featured on Central Texas Gardener
The Taniguchi Garden at Zilker Botanical Garden in Austin, Texas was built by Isamu Taniguchi as a gift of peace and tranquility to our city and has made an indelible mark on those who have visited. When the Zilker Botanical Garden Conservancy decided to install a riparian stream bed and demonstration garden to connect the Taniguchi Garden to the pond near the Rose Garden, it was Isamu Taniguchi’s grandson, architect Evan Taniguchi, and David Mahler of Environmental Survey Consulting, who worked together to design and build a sustainable riparian habitat that Mahler describes as a “recognition and homage to the natural community that we live in.”
Mahler’s 5-level stream bed design, with pipes hidden under bridges and native riparian and shade plants was inspired by the stunning limestone stream beds and waterfalls typical of central Texas. The demonstration garden includes more than 100 native plant varieties, such as heartleaf skullcap, sedges, clover ferns, maiden hair ferns, and other plants chosen for their riparian tendencies and preference for growing in the shade of the large heritage live oak trees that shelter much of the area. In the sunny areas, Mahler chose native asters and grasses that will not need to be fertilized to succeed long term.
Learn more by watching the Central Texas Gardener video above or by visiting the garden in person at Zilker Botanical Garden in Austin, Texas.