The Thomas Jefferson Gardens project has been making great strides to the landscape for the Greene County Welcome Center.

TJ Gardens President Tom Polking says part of landscape design of the five different gardens was worked on by several different entities including professors from Iowa State University.  He states that the Gardens worked with the County Extension office to bring in experts from Ames.

Polking describes how they are helping with one of the gardens called the Farmers Garden.

“Farmers from our area have donated over $100,000 for that garden.  And in that garden we’ll be doing a lot of the plantings that took place in Greene County in 1910.  We contacted Iowa State University and we can actually get seeds that were developed in 1910, they have a seed bank.  So that garden will also compare to today’s hybrids with a lot of the plantings over the last 100 years.”

Other gardens will a Lewis and Clark Garden featuring prairie plantings, a children’s garden and two Thomas Jefferson gardens with seeds from Monticello, Thomas Jefferson’s home estate.

Other design plans include a brick pathway and aeration system are all suppose to be installed by this winter.