WASHINGTON YOUTH GARDEN
OVERVIEW
Washington Youth Garden (WYG) is a one-acre education garden at the National Arboretum and is a destination for garden-based education and nature play. It was originally established in 1971 to teach local elementary students horticulture and life skills. Today, Washington Youth Garden is a welcoming and inviting place for the DC community to learn and grow together.
Our goal is to share innovative and environmentally-friendly growing techniques, encourage nature play, and grow fresh produce for the community. WYG’s pollinator garden, sensory garden, food production area, and Nature Explore classroom encourage visitors of all ages to engage with agriculture, farming, and environmental education. Thousands of pounds of fresh fruits and vegetables are grown in WYG each year, all of which are distributed to students and families in the DC community to fight food insecurity.
GROW THE GARDEN: FENCE RENOVATION
We are renovating Washington Youth Garden’s perimeter fence as the next step in our Grow the Garden campaign.
Replacing the existing fence will:
- Make the garden more inviting to youth and families
- Create a visible, central entry point to the garden by adding a front entrance
- Incorporate honeycomb elements to make the fence more visually interesting and engaging than the existing chain link fence
- Continue to keep out deer, raccoons, and groundhogs
- Expand the growing space
Donate today and together we can grow the garden! We have already secured $50,000 in grant funding for the fence renovation, and $60,000 in combined matching gifts for the campaign. To unlock these gifts, we must raise $60,000 from our community. Whether it’s $15, $50, or $500, every donation makes a difference.
*Donations are for the entire Grow the Garden campaign and do not count towards annual membership.
Garden Manager Xavier posing in front of the garden’s new front gate.
Installation of the new perimeter fence. Black cattle fencing will line the backside of the honeycomb facade to prevent critters from getting into the garden.
The new perimeter fence expands the growing space of the garden and includes a new front entrance near the road.
A new Garden Agreement sign hangs from the existing fence to welcome visitors to the garden.
Click the map to view in full screen, or click here for a downloadable version.
Campaign Phases
FONA is committed to providing excellent youth education at the National Arboretum. Each phase of the Grow the Garden campaign helps us make the Washington Youth Garden more engaging, accessible, and productive for future generations.
- Conceptual redesign
- Community feedback
- Final redesign
- Fence renovation (construction and fundraising in progress)
- Raised bed construction (funding secured)
- Interpretive & wayfinding signage (ongoing)
- Widen garden paths to be ADA accessible
- Build a whimsical garden supply shed
- Plant fruit & nut trees
- Interpretive & wayfinding signage
- Decorative plantings in front of garden
- High-visibility signage
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Ann Yuan
JEAN LANGE
Progress Toward $60K Matching Gift
Anonymous
Thomas Kapfer
Leslie Sharp
Alexis Hazen
Charles Dhysr
Anonymous
Kate LaTour
Susan P Thompson
Katherine Benjamin
John Albert
Leanna Fenske
Nancy Luria
Anonymous
Candy Kessel
Sofia Gardenswartz
Eric Hansen
Jan McCarthy
Susan Chapin and Joel Cohen
Linda and John Derrick
Maura Nakahata
Jonathan Coopersmith
Niraj Ray
Elizabeth Dugan
Capitol Hill Community Foundation
John Sanford Kemper
Michael Bujold
Marcel LaFollette
Eric Michael
DAVID MOLLITOR
Luke Dickinson
John Healey
Carolyn Peery
Nadia Shebaro
Craven Rand
Janet Nuzum
Melissa Stahl
Maura Allen
Bernard Foster
Catherine Robbins
Inas Anderson
Marcel C. LaFollette
Lee Coykendall
Laurel Cullen
Hans Wien
Dorothy Woodcock
Anonymous
Michael Stevens
Ursula Kondo
withers horner
Elissa Feldman
John Strand
Linda Lee
Kay Glenday
Cecilia Carroll
Angela Domanico
Austin Pedersen
Mary Frase
Diann McGarvey
GAIL CHARNLEY ELLIOTT
Bill and Donna Roberts
Jeanne Connelly
Matthew McClellan
Lesley Conroy
Nadia Mercer
Maryam Trowell-McCloud
Kari Rowe
Mark & Cindy Clark
Maura Allen
ellen mack
Annetta Kushner
Avis Black
JEAN LANGE
Joelle Gamble
Catherine Kerkam
Harold Belcher
Brooke Breckenridge Morton
Tuckie and Donald Westfall
Anonymous
Kathleen Horan
Kevin Garrahan
Barbara Schmitt
Megan Greenaway
Margaret Strand
Richard Boyd
Caroline Angelo
Ruth McDonald
Julie Crudele
Penny Morrill
Anonymous
Judith Ritz
Anonymous
Tom Gavin
Linda Marks and Ralph Lopez
Nadia Mercer
Maisha Martin
Karen Rand
Tom Broderick
WYG’S STORY
In 1971, the Washington Youth Garden Council and the DC Department of Recreation broke ground at the U.S. National Arboretum. This established the fourth Youth Garden site in DC to teach elementary school students horticultural and life skills.
In 1973, WYG partnered with neighboring elementary schools to create the Garden Club for 3rd-5th graders. It operated as part of the DC Department of Parks and Recreation as an established community garden for children from local schools and DPR camps until 1996.
In 2000, WYG started working directly with school gardens by establishing the Garden Science program, an 8 week plant science unit offered in classrooms at Title 1 schools. This program offered more formal horticulture science curricula than its predecessor, the Garden Club.
The Science Programming Reaching OUT (SPROUT) program was introduced in 2002 to bring Garden Science students on field trips to WYG.
Growing Food Growing Together started for families to learn gardening and cooking skills in their own plots at WYG.
In 2007, WYG instituted its summer internship program for college students.
We greatly appreciate the National Capital Area Garden Club’s crucial support during this time in our history which allowed WYG to flourish.
In 2010, our garden staff grew to 3 full-time members. We began installing school gardens in conjunction with Garden Science, and led the development of the DC Healthy Schools Act that dedicated state resources to horticulture education for the first time. WYG served 1,000 youth this year.
The Green Ambassador Program was established in 2013 for DC teenagers to gain experience in green careers through a paid summer internship.
In 2017 WYG hosted 4,200 students from 130 schools and camps on SPROUT field trips, marking the first year we served 6,000 youth.
The Summer Institute for Garden-based Teaching began in 2018 and the Green Ambassadors Program solidified its multi-tiered model.
While the COVID-19 pandemic halted all in-person programs in 2020, we adapted to make our program supports more flexible and tied to our partner school’s needs. In 2020, we introduced the Educator Coaching Program to provide hands-on assistance and instruction to teachers throughout the school year. This program now serves 8 to 12 Title 1 DC schools annually.
Washington Youth Garden now grows over 7,500 lbs of food annually for distribution through our partner schools and community partners. It remains a hub for young people, teachers, and families to learn about how they can grow food in their schools and homes. Through all our youth programs, FONA serves over 7,000 students across the District.
VISIT THE GARDEN
The garden is open to all Arboretum visitors and has parking nearby. There are also picnic tables between the Grove and the garden on a first come first served basis. Please follow our three garden agreements during your visit:
- Stay on the path
- Pick with permission
- Respect all living things
If you plan to bring a large group to the garden, please let us know ahead of time so we can plan accordingly. While WYG is a public garden, the school field trips we host from April through October receive priority. Please email education@fona.org or call 202-544-8733 so we can find a time that works for everyone.
Use the map to the right to navigate to the garden within the Arboretum. Click on “View larger map” to open in Google Maps.
VOLUNTEER
Looking for a fun way to give back to your community? Want to spend time outside getting your hands dirty and connecting to nature? Interested in a unique team activity for your company or organization?
Volunteering at FONA’s Washington Youth Garden might be the perfect fit for you! Volunteers provide crucial help with gardening tasks such as weeding, planting, mulching, and pest control. You don’t need prior experience, but you must be willing to make friends with the soil and the bugs!
We host regularly-scheduled volunteer hours in the garden on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays from April through mid-November. We welcome any and all volunteers, but greatly appreciate volunteers who can regularly commit to volunteering throughout the growing season. Fill out our individual volunteer interest form and we will get back to you with more details.
We work with groups to plan private volunteer days from April through mid-November. We ask for a minimum of 10 people and maximum of 25 people per group. Fill out our group volunteer interest form and we will get back to you with more details.
To support our volunteer program, we have a suggested donation of $200 per group, but we would still love to have you volunteer if this is not feasible for your group! No one will be turned away for lack of funds.
Looking to complete community service hours for school? Join us for Teen Volunteer Days, held monthly on Saturdays during the spring and fall. All participants younger than 18 must have a parent or guardian complete the permission slip in the sign-up form. Any volunteers under the age of 14 must attend with a parent or guardian. Fill out our teen volunteer interest form to see upcoming dates, and we will get back to you with more details.
OTHER EDUCATION PROGRAMS
FONA hosts many other education programs at the Washington Youth Garden and in partner schools across Washington, DC.
The School Garden Support Program works with educators across DC to build strong, sustainable school garden programs. Our program empowers teachers to connect students to garden-based education through field trips in Washington Youth Garden, virtual classroom support, and professional development opportunities for DC educators.
The Green Ambassador Program provides year-round employment and development opportunities for DC high school students. Youth enter the program in the Farm Crew and progress to become Crew Leaders, staff, and alumni.
