- Industrial sites have potential for reuse — rather than being liabilities they can become landscapes of renewal.
- Design can integrate history with ecology — by retaining quarry walls, water features, and old infrastructure, the garden tells a story rather than erasing it.
- Community, vision and volunteerism matter — Dr. Webber’s private passion became public resource through dedicated work and public-spirited giving.
- Ecology and aesthetics are compatible — the garden combines botanical richness with design beauty, and woodland preservation with curated landscapes.
- Narrative matters — the garden’s appeal lies as much in its story (quarry to garden) as in its plants.
Comparisons to Other Florida Garden Projects
While Florida is home to many notable gardens (such as the famous Bok Tower Gardens, Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden, etc.), Cedar Lakes is distinctive for being built within an industrial void rather than on virgin land. Its quarry origins differentiate it and give it a dramatic verticality. The design emphasis on water, rock walls, and micro-habitats sets it apart from many flat-land gardens typical of Florida’s peninsula.
It thus occupies a unique niche: a “garden of reclamation” rather than a classic estate garden, and a place where visitors can reflect both on nature’s bounty and human impact.
Conclusion: A Living Landscape of Renewal
The history of Cedar Lakes Woods & Gardens is a powerful illustration of renewal, creativity, and the capacity of landscapes to be reinvented. From a path of extraction and abandonment sprang a place of beauty, reflection, conservation and community. The site reminds us that even damaged land holds potential—and that the intersection of design, ecology, history and public service can produce places of meaning.
Though not located in Fort Lauderdale, the model it provides is globally relevant: Florida, a state defined by rapid development and environmental challenge, needs more places like Cedar Lakes—landscapes that accept their industrial past but envision a greener future. For visitors, the garden offers not only aesthetic pleasure but also a story: of a dentist who saw potential in a swamp, of a quarry turned botanical refuge, of nature reclaiming rock and man re-imagining it.
In walking the paths, crossing the bridges, standing within the walls of the former quarry, one participates in that story—of transformation, hope and beauty. Cedar Lakes is more than a garden: it is a testament to what landscapes can become when humans, nature and time align for renewal. shutdown123