Santa Barbara Botanic Gardens

Backyard Garden Casitas Competition

In early 2022, Colorado State University landscape architecture faculty, Kelly Curl, and several undergraduate students were awarded two of the five selected Backyard Garden Casitas Design Competition plots for the Santa Barbara Botanic Gardens in California. In June of 2022, The Gardens opened the Backcountry Garden, a woodland garden with numerous opportunities to explore and experience nature for children ages 5-13. The competition asked for creative and engaging use of natural materials, family-friendly durable structures, inspirational, and environmentally native habitat that is supportive of the Garden’s mission to conserve California’s native plants.