Planning for the Future

Pittsburgh Botanic Garden Master Plan 2025 provides a comprehensive vision and framework for the next 25 years, emphasizing sustainable practices, innovative design, and immersive visitor experiences. Pittsburgh Botanic Garden (PBG) is a young garden (first opened to the public 2015) but already has an established tradition of excellence in conservation, site reclamation, and environmental stewardship combined with the highest standards of horticultural excellence. The garden is poised to become a regional leader in showcasing plants native to the Western Allegheny Plateau eco-region. New gardens showcase thoughtfully curated botanical collections, creating a harmonious blend of natural beauty and educational opportunities.

The site presents inherent hurdles to expansion: steep topography, extensive impacts from prior agriculture and coal mining, and the very real constraints of staffing, funding, and limited site utilities. Despite these challenges, leadership is committed to incremental expansion of the gardens, the educational facilities, and the support facilities to grow the visitor audience and expand access to a much greater portion of the 460-acre site.

Working in partnership with Sarver Ecological, RAS developed a deeper understanding of the existing flora and fauna to identify restoration and conservation opportunities, expand the garden’s plant collection, and ensure that future development does not disturb sensitive ecological assets.  Rick Daley of EMD Consulting lead a garden benchmarking study to help evaluate economic potential of proposed plan components and plan for adequate facility growth.

Our Services

Our Scope of Work:

  • Master Planning
  • Environmental Assessment
  • Operations Planning

Proposed New Garden Features

  • New Visitor Center and Parking
  • Special Events Center
  • Accessible Visitor Path
  • Canopy Walk
  • Mining Legacy Trail
  • Allegheny Plateau Woodland Garden
  • “Quercus Kingdom” Nature Play Garden
  • Family Adventure Garden

Rendered View of Pond Garden with Pavilion and Reconstructed Bridge for Pittsburgh Botanic Garden

Pittsburgh Botanic Garden Overall Master Plan

Rendered View of Visitor Center, Special Events Center, and Sculpture Garden

As the heart of the Pittsburgh Botanic Garden experience, the Pond Garden features thoughtful use of native and non-native plants in combination.

Rendered View of Canopy Walk Overlook for Pittsburgh Botanic Garden

1936 Aerial showing the extent of strip mining on the site

Working with the varied topography, the primary paths offer a barrier free and comfortable loop for all visitors. The secondary paths, which may include steps and a variety of materials like turf, mulch, or gravel, encourage exploration and provide intimate garden experiences.

Existing opportunities and constraints of the Pittsburgh Botanic Garden

About RAS Landscape Architects

Robinson Anderson Summers , Inc. (RAS) is an award-winning landscape architectural design firm recognized for its institutional and residential work. RAS’s entire body of work is sensitive to landscape history and site ecology. Our mission as designers is grounded in enhancing beauty, functionality, and the emotive power of place. Combining artistry with environmental stewardship is the hallmark of the RAS landscape portfolio. The small size of the firm enables the principals to maintain meaningful involvement in every project.

Our Services