The New York Botanical Garden Native Plant Garden was designed by Oehme, van Sweden, landscape architects specializing in the New American Garden style, to harmonize a stunning designed terrain with the diversity of microclimates across the site. The layout, in the middle of the Botanical Garden’s historic grounds, is both sustainable and visually inventive, a radical blend of modern sensibilities along with environmentally friendly elements. The enclosed facility features a central pool with water cascading over stone weirs. A promenade of broad boardwalks made from black locust, a native hardwood, and intimate paths lead visitors through a range of settings, from the shaded woodland to the dry, open meadow, and lush wetlands featuring nearly 100,000 plants.

The Native Plant Garden project was recognized by the American Society of Landscape Architects New York Chapter, receiving the Honor Award for Landscape Architectural Design in 2014.