Zachary Lane garden selected for Hennepin County Master Gardener tour

Something special has been growing at Zachary Lane Elementary for years, and next summer, community members from across Hennepin County will have a chance to see it for themselves.

Zachary Lane’s school garden has been selected for the 2027 Hennepin County Master Gardener Learning Garden Tour, one of just 10 gardens chosen to be featured.

The recognition marks another milestone for a garden that began in 2019 with support from a Hands-On Learning Grant from the Seven Dreams Education Foundation and has continued to grow, both in size and in the learning opportunities it provides students.

Over the years, the space has expanded to include raised garden beds, pollinator and sensory gardens, an outdoor classroom and other features. A second Seven Dreams grant in 2022 supported additional improvements, while families and community volunteers have helped plant, water, weed and care for the space.

“This garden has become so much more than a garden,” said Zachary Lane Principal Emily James. “It’s a place where our students can get their hands dirty, ask questions, explore science and see firsthand how the things they’re learning in the classroom connect to the world around them.” 

Central to that growth has been a longstanding partnership with Hennepin County Master Gardener volunteers, who have helped Zachary Lane connect the garden to classroom learning and provide hands-on gardening lessons for students.

That partnership eventually grew beyond the outdoor garden. Working with Master Gardener volunteers, Zachary Lane’s Green Team and district curriculum and instruction staff, the school transformed an empty classroom into a Grow Lab, complete with grow lights that allow students to continue planting, experimenting and learning throughout Minnesota’s winter months.

The space supports Zachary Lane’s Junior Master Gardener program, which gives every student opportunities for hands-on learning in plant growth, soil and water, ecology, insects, fruits and vegetables and more. Students conduct experiments, make observations and collect data while learning the skills needed to design, plant, maintain and harvest a garden.

Students can even work toward earning Level 1 Junior Master Gardener certification by completing learning activities and a service or leadership project during their elementary years.

Now, the outdoor garden at the center of that learning will have its own moment in the spotlight.

Members of the Zachary Lane Green Team applied and interviewed for the Hennepin County Master Gardener Learning Garden Tour before learning in late September that the school had been selected.

“Being selected for the Learning Garden Tour is such an exciting recognition of what our students, staff, families, Green Team and Master Gardener volunteers have built together,” James said. “There have been so many people who have helped this program grow over the years, and we’re incredibly excited to welcome the community and share what makes it so special.” 

The Green Team will spend the coming months preparing the garden to welcome visitors for the tour on Saturday, July 10, 2027, from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. More information about how to participate in the tour will be available later in the year.

By the time visitors arrive next summer, there will be even more growth at Zachary Lane.

The school was recently awarded a $500 grant from Monarch Joint Venture to expand learning opportunities focused on monarchs and other insects in the garden. Zachary Lane also received a Hennepin County Healthy Tree Grant, which will support the planting of more than 20 trees during a schoolwide Arbor Day celebration in May 2027. Planned varieties include plum, cherry, apple, white oak and hackberry trees.

For James, those additions are another investment in a space designed to serve Zachary Lane students well into the future.

“There are strong roots invested in this garden that will grow for generations of students,” James said. “These opportunities not only impact students academically, but they offer experiences during their formative years that they will remember for a lifetime.”

From a garden first planted in 2019 to a learning space now being recognized across Hennepin County, Zachary Lane’s garden continues to grow, along with the opportunities it provides students.