Located inside 100 yards due east of the Monument, the Binational Garden of Native Plants was started in March of 2007 as a symbol of the connection, hope, and harmony between the U.S. and Mexico, with garden’s original rectangular plot a joint design between high school students from San Diego and Tijuana.
 

As U.S. Border Patrol readied the installation of a new primary barrier at the end of 2011, a binational team of landscape architects, native plant experts, gardeners, and volunteers saved and stored the plants and collaborated on a new design consisting of binational circles bisected by the wall. This new design was implemented in 2012, marking the creation of one garden that belongs to the people of both nations. The garden continued to flourish on both sides of the wall despite increasing and severely limiting access restrictions.
 

In January 2020, San Diego Border Patrol bulldozed the entire U.S. portion of the garden with no warning, demolishing all 120 plants, a 500-pound eco bench, a massive information sign, and all pathways leading to the garden. The story was picked up by local, national, and international media outlets. As word of the demolition spread near and far, supporting voices and efforts for the garden grew exponentially. Border Patrol apologized and allowed the community on the U.S. side a supervised partial replanting to recreate the circles two weeks later using baby transplants to replace the matured growth.  
 

The fate of the garden is up in the air as there are currently plans to replace the primary barrier that runs through it with a more fortified wall—which would again demolish the plants on the U.S. side along with some on the Mexican side.  We’re hopeful that the garden can somehow be saved from this destruction, and continue to serve as a symbol of comraderie and collaboration.