History of Juniper Level Botanic Garden

Juniper Level Botanic Garden was started in August 1988, when Tony and Michelle Avent purchased a 2.2 acre abandoned sandy loam tobacco field in Southern Wake County, NC, at N 35 37.691, W 78 38.742 at 257' elevation. In English, we are 18 minutes due south of the State Capitol in Raleigh, NC. About ½ mile to our north are the Juniper Level Schoolhouse (defunct) and the Juniper Level Baptist Church (very active). Juniper Level is an old black community, located between the larger communities of Willow Springs and Panther Branch. Unfortunately, the town of Juniper is no longer included on county or state maps. The name originated from "junipers" which used to grow along nearby Juniper Branch. These plants were likely either Chamaecyparis thyoides or Juniperus virginiana. Conifers are not new to the area, since more than a ton of 90 million year old (Cretaceous Period) petrified conifers and palm trees have been excavated from the property.

In April 1996, the Avents purchased an additional 5.25 acres of adjoining property, followed by a purchase of 10.9 acres, bringing the total property to 18.3 acres. Intensively planted botanical display gardens have been constructed on 6 acres of the property. The feature areas of the garden include a woodland garden, a bog garden, several rock gardens, a southwest garden, a hardy tropical garden, a sunken garden, and several perennial and mixed borders.

The first garden curator, James Stevenson (1996-8), made his mark by creating some splendid color combinations throughout the older section of the garden and by designing the new 200' long driveway border before he departed to Kew Gardens in the summer of 1998. Our second curator, Rodney Eason (1998-2000), before departing to Longwood Gardens, worked to install the irrigation system in the new garden, as well as to begin plantings in the new areas of the garden. Planting of the new gardens began in the spring of 1999, and with the tremendous amount of soil preparation that took place, it doesn't take long for the plantings to develop. Garden curator Adrienne Roethling (2000-present) has been working since that time to speed development of the new gardens, while reworking some of the older plantings.

Juniper Level Development Time Line

    1988 First land purchase of 2.2 acres in Southern Wake Co. NC
1989 First plantings began on 2.2 acre plot
1989 First open house (2 weekends each in July, September)
1990 Fruit Demonstration Area installed
1994 Open houses expanded to Friday-Sunday and 6 weekends (2 each in May, July, and September)
1994 Grotto Project completed (Gallucci/Halligan Studio, Greensboro NC)
1994 Woodland Garden plantings began
1995 Concrete pavers placed in Grotto Area (Envisions, Raleigh NC)
1995 Bog Garden planted with recirculating stream for irrigation filtration
1996 Additional 5.25 acres of adjoining property purchased
1996 600 dump truck loads of soil moved on site to create planting berms on new property
1996 200' perennial border installed
1996 10,000 square foot Sun Trial Bed installed
1996 House on first property converted into offices and education center
1997 3,000 square foot Shade Trial Bed installed
1997 Alpine Rock Garden planted
1997 Education Center opened for classes
1998 12,000 square foot Shade Propagation Trial Bed installed for aroids, trillium, liliaceae
1999 Tropical Garden planted
1999 Southwest Garden planted
2001 Pavers added in Southwest Garden section (Envisions, Raleigh NC)
2001 Purchased 10.8 adjoining acres for garden expansion and open house parking
2002 Sun Trial areas expanded by 15,000 square feet
2004 Mt. Michelle Waterfall constructed (Two Oaks Studio, Asheboro NC)
2004 Sunken Garden installed with bio-retention ponds for irrigation run-off retention
2004 Shade Test Beds relocated and expanded
2004 10,000 square foot Trillium production trial beds relocated and expanded
2005 Bed renovations in older garden sections begun
2005 Geophyte Test Bed installed
2006 Cattail bridge installed (Gallucci Studios, Greensboro NC)
2006 Open houses expanded to 8 weekends (2 each in Feb, May, July, September)