I’ve finally finished the Botanical Gardens in Whitefish Bay, my latest Cities Skylines city.  Here is a cinematic video tour of the gardens, followed by screenshots of specific details.

Above:  This is an overview of the whole garden.  I’m playing on Owl’s Merchant Bay map, and when I started the game I saw this shallow lake and thought it would be perfect for a Botanic Garden, inspired by the Chicago Botanic Gardens.  I added the stream coming in from the right in order to add a waterfall, and then a small drainage stream that goes off to the left and connects to a river.

Below:  The entrance to the garden in twilight.  We will proceed around the main loop in a counter-clockwise path.

Above:  I have a train line connection outside the garden which runs in to the city.  For the main building, I connected two of the vanilla botanic garden buildings using the Move It! mod.  Unfortunately for the garden, the train company refuses to keep the area by the station clear of weeds.

Below:  Since this is based on the Chicago Botanic Gardens, I’ve decided that cims would pay to park but not to enter.  Hence, I was able to build a path directly from the parking lot in to the garden so visitors can bypass the main building if they want.

Above:  Directly behind the main building is a restroom facility and the rose garden.

Below:  The rose garden.

Above:  Next is another detailed circular garden with a fountain.  Note that after I took this screenshot I switched my LUT, so that’s why the gravel is a different color.

Below:  Near the circular gardens is a small fishing pier.

Above:  The conifers garden.

Below: The English Walled Garden.

Above:  The agricultural learning center.

Below:  The “original” botanical gardens.  This historic building was the site of the first Whitefish Bay Botanic Garden, which was later expanded into what there is today. Now, the building houses things such as a bonsai plants, ferns, and other things that can’t survive outside in this climate.

Above: The globe sculpture in the center of the lagoon.

Below:  The waterfall, with a hiking trail that climbs up the hill to a picnic/lookout point near the top of the falls.

Above:  Crossing the bridge in front of the falls.

Below:  The path then winds around to the other side of the park.

Above:  A group picnic area with playground.

Below:  The amphitheater.  This was conceptually based on the Ravinia concert center in the Chicago area.  Concert goers can buy lawn tickets and picnic on the lawn during the concert.

Above:  The more expensive seats for concerts actually have somewhere to sit!

Below:  Near the amphitheater is a restaurant which overlooks the globe sculpture at sunset.

Above:  The prairie grass garden.

Below:  The path winds through some wetlands on its way back to the main entrance of the garden.

Above:  The Japanese garden and castle playground.

Below:  The hedge maze.


Above:  A behind the scenes look at the greenhouses where the workers grow some of the plants before putting them on display.

Below:  The administrative building and employees’ entrance.