Best Garden South Bend Near Me

4worldlovers: Season Extension: Let Farmer Emily teach you how to extend your garden season.

Fruit Tree Basics: Katie will walk through some fruit tree basics

4worldlovers: The Studebaker Fountain at Leeper Park was generously funded by local donors. Other renovations at the park include new ADA pathways, a formal garden, and a new playground. A new overlook into the river and traffic calming features are also completed.


The Leeper Park Rose Garden is a gem within Leeper Park that is maintained a loved by a group of volunteers every year. At one time, the formal garden bloomed with more than 700 rose bushes. The movement behind Resurrect the Roses has breathed new life into the landmark. It is a place of respite and relaxation among the bustle in downtown South Bend. To learn more about this group, visit their Facebook page here.

As the one of only two parks in the South Bend system to be categorized as a historic landmark, plans for Leeper Park call for the restoration of many historic features that were included in the original George Kessler design. The park will feature the restored Studebaker Fountain, a new riverfront boardwalk with areas suitable for observing waterfowl and the river, a pedestrian underpass beneath the Michigan Street Bridge to connect Leeper East and West, and improved pathways to the island. Leeper East restrooms will be restored and reopened and Leeper West restrooms will be upgraded. A new universally accessible playground will be added to the park. Click on the project framework to the left for full concept.

Leeper Park has seen multiple upgrades in the last two years, all of which were made possible with unique and creative partnerships. The Leeper Park Sunken Rose Garden is a volunteer-led project to restore the historic sunken rose garden on the east side of the park. In a partnership with the STEAM learning program at Madison School, the City developed a lavender labyrinth adjacent to the school on the west side of Leeper Park. The labyrinth was created to allow students to maintain and harvest the lavender for lessons in science and entrepreneurship. Also on the east side of Leeper Park, the STEAM project has renovated and upgraded the Amphitheater with ADA access, seating, and light poles for actors, church groups, and musicians to use.

To maintain quality playing surfaces at Leeper Tennis Facility, the facility’s 14 tennis courts were resurfaced with sand and acrylic material and painted. This process will be repeated every four years to maintain the tennis court surface. The building will see upgrades and modernization. Leeper West restrooms will be upgraded.