Attributes of a Successful Ethnobotanical Garden

Abstract

A successful ethnobotanical garden tells a compelling story about the relationship between people, plants, and the natural world in a particular place at a particular time, within a broader cultural or environmental context. We propose a framework for programming and design based on five attributes of a successful ethnobotanical garden. The proposed framework can help landscape architects answer six basic questions when programming and designing an ethnobotanical garden: What people are being interpreted? What aspects of their culture? How did they use this place? What plants did they use? How did they use them? What did they make with them? More importantly, the framework provides a tool for expanding our collective vision of what an ethnobotanical garden can be. By sharing this framework, we encourage landscape architects to approach ethnobotanical gardens from the broader context of a people’s relationship to the Earth. In this way, we can improve the quality of ethnobotanical garden design and interpretation, and increase these gardens’ effectiveness in changing visitors’ perceptions of, attitudes towards, and behavior on the land.