Landscape Information
The seventeen-acre grove dedicated to the 36th president of the United States is one of two commemorative memorials in Lady Bird Johnson Park situated on the Potomac River, along the George Washington Memorial Parkway. Following Johnson’s death in 1973, friends and colleagues wanted a tribute recalling his love of the land. This spot was a favorite of both President and Lady Bird Johnson because of its panoramic view of the Washington skyline. M. Meade Palmer, a Virginia landscape architect designed the memorial, which was dedicated on April 6, 1976. Palmer created a spiraling pattern of walks and trails leading to a flagstone terrace with a rugged granite monolith at its center. The trails feature hundreds of white pines and dogwood trees under-planted with azaleas, rhododendrons and, during spring, thousands of yellow daffodils, incorporating rustic picnic tables and benches throughout. The sunset-red, ninetten foot high granite monolith, quarried near the LBJ Ranch, symbolizes the dynamism of President Johnson. Four granite markers surrounding the monolith bear quotations expressing Johnson’s philosophy on the environment, education, civil rights, and the U.S. presidency. From the terrace, a panoramic view opens across the Potomac River to Washington, D.C.
