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At a time of year when there's typically the most traffic, the Dallas Arboretum has been closed due to the coronavirus pandemic. Dave Forehand, the vice president of gardens, talked to Good Day about plans to reopen fairly soon. More: dallasarboretum.org
DALLAS - The Dallas Arboretum and Botanical Garden is ready to welcome back guests on June 1.
The arboretum has been closed to the public due the coronavirus even though it’s the time of year when it typically has the most traffic.
“We’ve waited for this day and we can’t wait for folks to come and see the beautiful flowers here at the arboretum,” said Dave Forehand, the Dallas Arboretum’s vice president of gardens.
The 66-acre garden has plenty of space for people to safely stay at a distance from one another but Forehand said there will be limited admission at first so not everyone is arriving at once.
All guests, including members with free admission, will have timed entry tickets and assigned parking spots.
“We won’t have too many people arriving at any one time but we’ll have plenty of people throughout the day,” Forehand said. “And we’ve created a special one-way walking path through the entire garden that’s over a mile long so that people get to see all the gardens but it will keep people moving in the right direction.”
The children’s play area and many of the buildings will remain. Forehand also said the arboretum will have limited food service at first. He encouraged guests to bring their own snacks and food.
“We’ve got lots of big great lawn areas where people can have a picnic in the shade. So that’s going to be a great way for people to have some family time in the garden as well,” he said.
Forehand assured that even while the arboretum was closed, staff members were still working to maintain the gardens. The May flowers will be in peak bloom just in time for the reopening.
“The one thing that’s not going to be different about a visit to the arboretum is the magnificent flowers and shrubs and trees. They are perfect,” he said. “People I think will be delighted to see how beautiful the gardens are. We’ve done a real good job of maintaining that through the close so I can’t wait for folks to see it again.”
LINK: dallasarboretum.org