“Nowhere in the world is there anything like this. There are lots of children’s gardens, but we took it so many steps farther.”

Sign up for our newsletter!

* indicates required

“It is not just a children’s garden it is the most unique project, I gotta say, in the world. There will be nothing like this when we finish.”

That’s Dallas Arboretum vice president of education Maria Conroy and Rory Meyers Children’s Adventure Garden. head of construction John Armstrong talking about the $56 million children’s science garden, which will occupy eight acres of the arboretum. The garden is in its final stages of construction.

According to a letter from Armstrong, “Much of the children’s garden site is complete” and “once construction is complete, the arboretum’s horticultural staff will begin a period of additional horticultural embellishment.” Further in the letter, Armstrong informs neighbors that “1,150 new trees have been planted in the children’s garden alone.”

Arboretum spokeswoman Wendy Rentz says the garden is still expected to be complete by May 2013, pending any rain delays.

The children’s garden is being constructed on the north end of the arboretum near the amphitheater overlooking White Rock Lake.

The above video from Advocate photography editor Can Turkyilmaz captures the garden’s early stages of construction and previews some of its features. Conroy and Armstrong are the garden “tour guides” in the video.