The Muskingum Valley Park District owns and operates gardens in Zanesville and Muskingum County.

Mission Oaks Gardens

Mission Oaks Gardens is a beautiful urban garden located in Zanesville, Ohio. It exists quietly and virtually undetectable from the street in a residential neighborhood. The garden’s history began in the late 1980’s with the purchase of the property by Bert and Susan Hendley. They lovingly restored the mission style home which sits at the top of the property and then began development of the gardens in an abandoned ravine located below the home. The ravine’s unique micro-climate made it suitable for the survival of both native and non-native plants to this part of Ohio.

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Gale Garden

Located in the McIntire Historic District in Zanesville, Gale Garden is a small one-acre public garden. In the early 1800s the site was a farm pasture and then a truck farm for vegetables. Kenneth and Jane Gale purchased the property in 1938 and turned into a retreat garden. The garden features more than 80 species of trees as well as a wide variety of woody ornamentals and perennials. The property was donated to the Mission Oaks Foundation in 2005. The garden was later acquired by the Muskingum Valley Park District in 2010. Gale Garden is open daily from dawn to dusk.

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