COLLEGE STATION — Joseph Johnson has been named program manager for The Gardens at Texas A&M University, according to Dr. Mark Hussey, vice chancellor and dean of agriculture and life sciences for The Texas A&M University System.

Johnson will oversee the design, construction and maintenance of The Gardens, will  direct interns, volunteers and contractors and will assist with budgeting and fundraising. He assumes the position from Dr. Doug Welsh, professor emeritus and former horticulture department associate head, who will retire at the end of 2016.

Joseph Johnson has been named program manager for The Gardens at Texas A&M University. (Texas A&M AgriLife photo by Kathleen Phillips)
Joseph Johnson has been named program manager for The Gardens at Texas A&M University. (Texas A&M AgriLife photo by Kathleen Phillips)

The Gardens ultimately will include 40 acres and a variety of themed spaces for teaching, research and community involvement and enjoyment, Hussey noted. Construction on the first portion, the 7-acre Leach Teaching Garden, began in June and is expected to be completed by early 2018.

Johnson has been the director of horticulture with the 252-acre Shangri La Botanical Gardens and Nature Center in Orange since 2010. Previously, Johnson managed more than 50 acres of landscaped gardens and 300 acres of campus as well as interior public spaces and satellite properties for the University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center. There he expanded the rose garden and installed the Chrysalis Project, a butterfly garden that was featured in Southern Living Magazine.

Johnson graduated from Texas A&M in 1988 with a bachelor of science degree in horticulture.

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