Politics

Michelle Obama: White House garden ‘semi-open to the public,’ can be seen through the fence

Vince Coglianese Editorial Director
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Michelle Obama told an audience attending her book signing Tuesday that the White House garden is still “semi-open to the public” because visitors can see it through the fence.

She was promoting her book, “American Grown: The Story of the White House Kitchen Garden and Gardens Across America,” released in May 2012.

“[M]y goal in this book is to share the story of the creation of the garden,” Michelle Obama said during the Tuesday morning signing at Washington’s Politics and Prose Bookstore, “because while it is semi-open to the public — because if you visit the White House along the South Lawn, you can see the garden from outside of the White House.”

“But millions of people don’t get a chance to come to Washington.  They hear about the garden; they don’t get an opportunity to see it,” she said.

Visitors standing outside the fence of the South Lawn can see portions of the garden at least 100 yards away, though the view can be somewhat obscured by a wall of trees and shrubbery.

The Obama administration stopped allowing visitors to tour the White House grounds beginning on March 9 “due to staffing reductions resulting from sequestration.”

UPDATE: Tuesday’s view of the White House garden below. (Photo by Grae Stafford/TheDC)

WH Garden

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