These original 14 acres of the Chadwick Arboretum & Learning Gardens were first planted in 1981, and dedicated in honor of Emeritus Professor of Horticulture Lewis C. Chadwick. The Arboretum began as the University Horticulture Gardens on main campus continued to lose ground to new buildings. Likewise, the agriculture campus (west of the Olentangy River) began to expand. Howlett Hall, where horticulture and floriculture classes were taught, was opened in 1967, and named for former horticulture professor and plant breeder Freeman Howlett.
The Lane Avenue Gardens were established on the north side of the Agriculture Administration Building and extended from Fyffe Road to Olentangy River Road along Lane Avenue. Established with efforts from the horticulture faculty and industry (especially Harley Bratton from Slemmons Nursery), a number of the plantings were brought from the old University Horticulture Gardens, which once flourished at the rear of Campbell Hall.
The trellis entrance was built in 1980 with leadership from Ken Reisch, then Associate Dean of the College, and Dean Ramsey, VP of OSU Physical Facilities.
In 1987 a master design for the Arboretum was prepared by Steve Drown and Jim Hiss--both faculty from the OSU School of Landscape Architecture. The plan was finalized in 1989. Norm Booth, former head of the Program of Landscape Architecture, also served as landscape designer for the Arboretum and was a member of the Arboretum's Coordinating Council.
Since 1988, over $5 million has been raised to build the Arboretum.
Collections and features in the gardens include the Columbus Landscape Association Conifer Garden, the Lynn E. McCall Colorado Spruce Collection, the Phenology Garden, the International Society of Arboriculture Beech Tree Allee, the Van Wade Hosta Collection, the Barbara Jean Johnson Promenade, the Lewis C. Chadwick founder's rock, the entrance trellis, and the Lois B. Small and Gladys B. Hamilton Labyrinth Garden.
The Katherine van Fossen Wildflower Garden, the Bert & Josephine Kleinmaier Perennial Garden, and the Murphy Family Annual & Perennial Garden trials, which were originally planted in the Lane Avenue Gardens, have been relocated to the Learning Gardens in front of Howlett Hall.
The Columbus Landscape Association was the first sponsoring group to donate a section of the garden. Over $40,000 of plant materials and countless hours of time has been donated by member companies of CLA, with additional plants added each year. The conifer collection is used extensively in the plant sciences teaching and research programs and is located along Lane Avenue toward Olentangy River Road.
For many years the CLA also sponsored an annual student internship scholarship. Donald Moulton was a member of CLA and promoted the importance of providing internships for students. A internship scholarship in his name was given annually for a number of years and CLA followed his lead. These scholarships are dormant now, but they helped to jump start our early efforts to engage horticulture students in the care and maintenance of the Chadwick Arboretum.
The Columbus Landscape Association continues to provide mulch from the Home & Garden Show each year-a substantial donation to our gardens. CLA members meet in the Arboretum once each year for a monthly meeting. Many of their members are graduates of Ohio State University.
On August 16, 1994 a 3-1/2 ton granite rock with a memorial bronze plaque was installed in memory of Professor L.C. Chadwick, namesake of the Arboretum. The rock is located along the Beech tree allee just west of the Columbus Landscape Association Conifer Garden.
This garden is one of 36 sites in Ohio that includes 17 woody plants species and 15 perennial species. The plants are closely monitored during bloom time to predict regional insect emergence, which allows better control of pests. Phenology woody plants are located along the Olentangy River Road corridor near Woody Hayes Drive; phenology perennials are incorporated within the Learning Gardens in front of Howlett Hall. For more information visit http://phenology.osu.edu/default.asp
Lewis C. Chadwick (1902-1993) was a faculty member of the OSU Department of Horticulture. He was known as a tree researcher and organizer of the International Society for Arboriculture. He also coordinated the OSU Short Course (in 1929), and the Tree Evaluation Program. He is credited with bringing the field of arboriculture to professional status. Dr. Chadwick also developed a system for propagation using hormones. He retired from Ohio State University in 1967 and died in 1993 at the age of 91.
Elton Smith, former OSU Extension specialist in Landscape Horticulture was Dr. Chadwick's last graduate assistant. Dr. Smith authored many of the Landscape Fact Sheets that were published through OSU Extension. Elton Smith was a founding member of the Chadwick Arboretum. Elton Smith retired from Ohio State in 1992.
The east-west upper walkway along Lane Avenue from Fyffe Road to Olentangy River Road provides a connection with other sections of campus and easy access to all parts of the gardens. The promenade was begun in 1991 and completed in 1995 with wheelchair access in the parking lot bordering the south side of the Arboretum. John Johnson, a local businessman and contractor, built the walk to honor his mother. The retaining wall in the backdrop of the former Kleinmaier Perennial Garden (now the Taxonomic Collection) was also donated by Johnson.
Rohani Beech trees line either side of the walkway forming an allee at the southern entrance to the Lane Avenue Gardens from the Agriculture Administration Building parking lot. The Ohio Chapter of ISA has had close ties with the Arboretum through its history. The first recorded Arbor Day celebration in the Arboretum was held on April 27, 1984 to dedicate three Alnus glutinosa (Alder) trees that were installed to honor members of ISA.
The Class of 1938 was the third donor to the Arboretum. Their gift was in celebration of their 50th graduation anniversary. Plans for the 100-foot circular plaza include a structure or rotunda to facilitate group gatherings.
This is the Arboretum's first named collection--The Van Wade Hosta Collection. Van Wade, a world renowned hosta grower and breeder, attended OSU and has always felt a special affinity for the OSU campus. The first installation of three-part hosta installations took place on June 7, 1995 when 40 volunteer planted 312 plants that included 50 varieties. On June 4, 1997 phase II was planted in the old garden with 153 additional plants representing 96 varieties. Coinciding with the original installation was the establishment of the Central Ohio Hosta Society. Phase III will cap the proposed planting of 750 hostas.
The collection was updated again in 2002 and features a historical group, sports and their lineages, fragrant cultivars, Tardianas, varieties introduced by Ohio hybridizers, and about 100 other plants.
In the waning months of the summer of 1997 a Chartres-style labyrinth was installed as part of an intimate garden design that included an artistic element by Jon Carloftis. Jon was one of nine designers and artists who participated in the Arboretum design charrette in January 1997; he is also a contributing editor to Garden Design magazine. His design for the Arboretum, including the labyrinth, serves two purposes: it creates an interactive destination point in the Arboretum and provides an enclosed area for private receptions/events in the Arboretum.
***Web person: There is a more elaborate Labyrinth blurb in another electronic folder that I have included***