Betti Pool spent more than three decades transforming the Governor Warner Mansion's grounds from a recently donated estate into 17 named gardens that draw visitors year-round. The Farmington Hills resident retired at the end of 2025 from her volunteer post as Head Gardener.

The City of Farmington announced Pool's retirement on Thursday, Aug. 6, with City Manager David Murphy calling the gardens "a source of pride for Farmington."

"For more than 30 years, Betti poured her knowledge, creativity and love into the gardens at the Historic Governor Warner Mansion, making them a source of pride for Farmington," Murphy said. He added that the city is grateful for Pool's years of service.

Pool, a certified Master Gardener, started volunteering at the mansion in 1993. Her path to horticulture began after the birth of her son, when she simply "needed to get outside." She had been tending 13 gardens at Meadow Brook Hall in Rochester Hills but switched to the Warner Mansion because the drive was shorter.

The mansion itself was not unfamiliar. As a child, Pool's family drove from Detroit's East Side to Howell along Grand River Avenue, passing the Victorian Italianate house on every trip. Built in 1867 by P.D. Warner, the structure sits on nearly three acres at 33805 Grand River Ave.

When Pool arrived in 1993, the property had shifted from private Warner family occupancy to city ownership just 13 years earlier, in 1980. The Governor's grandchildren donated it that year to serve as a historical museum, and the gardens were planted and maintained entirely by volunteers. Pool helped shape that blank canvas into a landscape that includes a Perennial Garden, Wild Flower Garden, Lily Garden, the Edessa Warner Slocum Herb Garden, the Marie Walling Parker Rose Garden and the Eleanor Goodenough Spicer Fountain garden, among others.

The Spicer Fountain itself was not always on the grounds. Pool recalled it was moved from the Longacre House in Farmington Hills to the mansion in 1985, eight years before she started.

Beyond the beds and borders, Pool recruited new volunteers through gardening talks she gave across the community. Those presentations drew questions from attendees about how to get involved, feeding a pipeline of gardeners who worked alongside her over the years. She also served on the Farmington Hills Beautification Committee and wrote a monthly gardening column in the now-defunct Farmington Observer.

A Spice Bush planted by the mansion's volunteer gardeners in memory of Pool's mother, Madeline Aldridge Hope, stands on the grounds. It is a living tribute.

Pool's departure coincides with the mansion's biggest physical change in decades. The city launched a $1 million renovation project in spring 2026, funded by a state grant secured by Sen. Mary Cavanaugh, Rep. Jason Hoskins and Rep. Kelly Breen. The museum is closed during construction, with a grand reopening anticipated in late 2026 or early 2027. Future phases call for restoring the historic carriage house and adding a glass-walled pavilion with landscaping improvements.

The city has not announced who will succeed Pool as Head Gardener.