Welcome to Thompson Gardens!

The Vern W. Thompson Heritage Gardens was dedicated in June 1996.  What started out as a simple beautification project for the Subdistrict grounds has grown into 3 acres of meticulously groomed gardens, maintained by Mr. Theris Watts.  The park has a picnic bowery, a four-fountain pond and crossing foot bridge, waterfall, flower beds, and other landscaping using woody plants and drought-tolerant grasses to demonstrate that water-wise landscaping can be very attractive and conserve water.

Hours of operation are 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. (Tuesday through Saturday) and 12:30 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. on Sundays.

When the Roy Water Conservancy Subdistrict building was remodeled, over half of the turf areas surrounding it were eliminated and a more efficient sprinkler system was retrofitted.  Thus began the commitment to using the gardens as a visual tool to educate the public about using native and water-wise plants in landscape design, called xeriscaping.  Future tutorial garden ideas include turf, mulch, and soil profile demonstrations, as well as a showcase for plants and flowers native to arid Utah soils.  Please click here for a listing of local demonstration gardens, as well as several water conservation internet sources.

No two sections of the park are alike.  Each has been designed to express a specific region of the country.  There are tropical flowers such as the Bird of Paradise found in Hawaii or Dawn Redwood trees from Northern California.  Another unique attraction is the waterfall, which is surrounded by a "wild area" to discourage people from playing in the pool below.

Recycling is part of the park, too, with the bridge built from timbers that originally spanned a bridge across the Great Salt Lake.  The pond under this bridge is filled with flowering lily pads and contains mosquito fish as well as goldfish.

The initial construction & development of the park could not have taken place without these volunteers.....THANK YOU!