Grape & Espalier Pruning at Nathanael Greene for Master Gardener Members

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Nathanael Greene Park covers 59 acres of land received as surplus property from the U.S. Department of the Interior and Bureau of Prisons in 1975. Over the years, the land has been gradually developed to include the Mizumoto Japanese Stroll Garden, the Gray-Campbell Farmstead and University of Missouri Extension's Master Gardener Demonstration Gardens.

The park is named after Nathanael Greene (August 7, 1742 – June 19, 1786) who was a major general of the Continental Army in the American Revolutionary War. When the war began, Greene was a militia private, the lowest rank possible; he emerged from the war with a reputation as George Washington's most gifted and dependable officer. Many places in the United States are named for him including Greene County (Greene County, organized in 1833) and Nathanael Greene Park which is now owned and operated by the Springfield-Greene County Park Board.

Known as Nathanael Greene|Close Memorial Park the 114 acres share the main entrance from Scenic Ave. and is the location for the new $4.3 million dollar Springfield-Greene County Botanical Center expected to open in September 2010, funded in part by a 2006 Greene County voter approved parks sales tax. The park is open dawn to dusk.

View current construction progress.

See this excellent article on it's history of from the Missouri Department of Conservation's magazine, the Missouri Conservationist here.