Rebuilding the Shade Shelves

After over forty years of use, the original shade shelves William built in the garden fell into disrepair. In spring 2026, we rebuilt the structure where William grew his palms, and carefully opened the canopy above to ensure ideal light levels for these growing plants. This project follows The Conservancy’s 2024 repair of William’s original shade structure.

Together, these two essential projects allow us to continue our efforts to support the flourishing of Hawaiʻi’s native palms—the loulu (genus Pritchardia). As part of our Pritchardia Project, we are propogating native seeds with the goal of expanding plantings of palm species native to East Maui in the garden, and those native to West Maui in Lāhāina, as a contribution to ongoing recovery efforts. Over the years, hundreds of small palms grew up here on these shelves, before William and Paula planted them out in the garden. In the years ahead, we’ll tend hundreds more in this very place.

We are incredibly grateful for the support of all who contributed to this essential project: