The sculptural Fountain of Life, as well as a tree-lined avenue called the Tulip Tree Allee, are located outside the front entrance.

An act of the New York State Legislature, passed in 1891, set aside land within Bronx Park in the north-central part of the Bronx for the creation of the New York Botanical Garden (NYBG) on the condition that a board of directors raise $250,000 ($7.66 million in today's dollars[3]) for the site.

[4][5] Prominent civic leaders and financiers agreed to match the City's commitment to finance the buildings and improvements.

[7] The Board of Directors then asked landscape architect Calvert Vaux and his partner, Parks Superintendent Samuel Parsons Jr., to consult on site selection.

A design contest for the museum was held, attracting firms and architects like Ernest Flagg, William Appleton Potter, N. Le Brun & Sons, Parish & Schroeder, and Clinton & Russell.

[11] By July 1897, construction was delayed due to disputes over whether the presence of the museum and the NYBG conservatory would detract from the naturalistic look of the rest of the garden.

[12] The New York City Board of Estimate again blocked the $500,000 appropriation in mid-September 1897, citing the concerns about the building's aesthetics and possible cost overruns,[13] before approving it at the end of that month.

[15] By September 1898, according to The New York Times, the steel frame was 75 percent finished and the exterior walls had been built up to the second floor.

[19] The annex was dedicated as the Harriet Barnes Pratt Library Wing in late 1965, after a notable NYBG benefactor,[22] and opened in 1966.

[19] The Science and Education Building was built between 1969 and 1972 to a design by William and Geoffrey Platt, and was dedicated to Jeannette Kittredge Watson.

As a result, NYBG officials planned for a four-story expansion to the east of the original building's north wing, set to open in 1991.

[27] A one-story annex to the south, housing the herbarium specimens, was designed by Coe Lee Robinson Roesch and finished in 1994.

[33] The original Mertz Library building was designed by Robert W. Gibson; its main facade is 308 feet (94 m) long.

[10] Designed in the Renaissance Revival style, it consists of a central pavilion topped by a dome, with two side wings.

[b] The International Plant Science Center is located east of the northern wing and faces Southern Boulevard to the north.

The Harriet Barnes Pratt Library Wing is located behind the original building to the east of the center pavilion.

On the south side, all five window bays are intact, but a former archway to the basement has been filled in, and a covered passageway from that arch leads to the one-story annex.

[35] The International Plant Science Center is five stories high, including the basement, and contains a windowless sand-colored facade.

[18] The third floor contained a library with a reading room, stacks, herbaria, and laboratories for plant embryology and taxonomy.

[37] Herbarium specimens are stored in the one-story annex that connects directly to the south wing of the original building.

[41] One observer wrote that "It was conceived in the spirit of Italian baroque fountains, with the surging movement of galloping horses and muscular riders.

[46][47] NYBG then asked the National Sculpture Society to appoint a committee, which would review submissions for a second fountain-designing competition.

[41] The fountain was cleaned in 1968 after a period of deterioration, by which point the plinth and basin had started to crack, and the mermaid, merman, and part of the crab claw had been removed.

[49] In 1901, a contract was given to Wilson & Baillie Manufacturing Company for the paving and grading of a road and tree-lined avenue leading to the museum building.

[47] The contract also called for a seating area and a drinking fountain 16 feet (4.9 m) tall, located at the avenue's western end.

[23] A 2002 New York Times article mentioned that the library had 775,000 items and 6.5 million plant specimens in its collection.