Discover the Better Homes and Gardens Test Garden

Just outside the corporate headquarters of Better Homes and Gardens®, amid the bustle of downtown Des Moines, lies a vibrant half‑block oasis. Bursting with color and tranquility, the Better Homes and Gardens Test Garden® is a living showcase of horticultural creativity. Yet many visitors misunderstand its purpose.

The diagram below illustrates the garden’s general layout, with north at the top.

Despite its name, the Test Garden is far more than a display garden. It functions as an outdoor photography studio, a venue for corporate events, and a peaceful retreat for employees. Though set in an urban environment, its design mimics a series of residential backyards—each turn reveals a fresh vista, perfect for capturing how‑to sequences, plant portraits, and performance trials of new varieties. In total, the garden comprises 22 distinct areas.

Within those spaces grow hundreds of perennials, trees, and shrubs, alongside a rotating palette of annuals and bulbs. Garden editors and visitors constantly discover new plants tucked into shady nooks, sunny borders, and colorful containers. After evaluation and photography, staff often replace specimens to make room for the next wave of introductions. The Test Garden team plants and replants tirelessly, all to inspire and inform the gardeners who walk its paths.