The next president will need more than a shovel to remove Michelle Obama's White House vegetable garden. Planted on the South Lawn in 2009, the garden has become a symbol of Obama's efforts toward "growing a healthier nation for our children," according to a new paving stone. It's one of many recent changes to the 2,800-square-foot garden, unveiled Wednesday, reports Politico. Once made up of wood planters and sawdust paths, it now includes stone pathways, a stone-paved seating area, and a wood and steel arbor cemented into the ground. Though it will be up to the next administration to decide what to do with the garden, the "brilliant" renovation means removing it will be no easy task.
"If it were taken out, it would truly just be a political statement," says an expert on the White House garden. And the possibility of it being removed is real. Ronald Reagan famously got rid of Jimmy Carter's solar panels when he moved in. Bill Clinton removed George HW Bush's horseshoe pit, and George W Bush nixed Clinton's jogging path. However, a home gardening company has agreed to donate $2.5 million over 17 years to maintain and "further develop" the garden, which supplies 2,000 pounds of produce annually, per the Washington Times. "I take great pride in knowing that this little garden will live on," Obama says. "I am hopeful that future first families will cherish this garden like we have." (More Michelle Obama stories.)