The Small College Arboretum

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The Small College Arboretum How to establish
it and use it for undergraduate
teaching Michael F. Gross, Ph.D. Georgian Court
College Lakewood, NJ 08701 http//www.georgian.ed
u
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OUTLINE

1. Introduction definition, why have arboretum
2. How to establish and operate the arboretum
3. Trees for teaching
4. Other small college arboreta

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GCCs Arboretum

• 152 acres entire campus
• ½ landscaped, ½ natural
• Established 1989
• Approx. 2,000 trees in landscaped area
• 1,300 annual budget
• No paid staff members

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What is an arboretum?a place where trees,
shrubs and other woody plants are grown,
exhibited, and labeled for scientific and
educational purposes. ---The Dawes
Arboretuma plot of land on which trees or
shrubs are grown for study or display
---Random House Dictionary
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Can Include

• Isolated Plants
• Groups of Plants arranged for a purpose
• Nature Trails through natural areas

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Why Have One?

• Formal Education Class Use
• Informal Education General Public
• (Tax Benefits Community Service)
• Stimulate Interest in Woody Plants Campus-wide
  (across the curriculum)
• Influence Campus Landscaping and Land Use
  Decisions

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How to Get Started

• Form Committee
• Write Mission Statement
• Develop a Vision
• Develop a Plan

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Committee Members

• Biology Faculty (Director of Arboretum)
• Groundskeeper/Physical Plant
• Advancement/Development Office
• Alumni?
• Art, English, Language Faculty?
• Student?
• Local Community/Landscapers?

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MISSION STATEMENT The S. Mary Grace Burns
Arboretum of Georgian Court College, acting in
harmony and interdependence with all creation,
has the mission of preserving and enhancing the
unique botanical heritage of the former Georgian
Court estate and its gardens, while promoting its
use for education, research, enjoyment and
inspiration.
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Species added to the four historic gardens will
augment the gardens authenticity. The New
Jersey Pinelands flora will be maintained and
expanded. Additions to the arboretum will
include species that provide interesting colors,
textures and fragrances throughout the year.
Collections will be developed that build upon the
historic botanical strengths of the grounds.
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Need a numbering system (accession numbers) for
record-keeping, with geographic coordinates

• Artificial Grid System 100 m on a side
• Latitude/Longitude Based GPS unit (200-300
  for low spatial resolution)

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GCC Accession Numbers4005.64 North
Latitude7413.08 West LongitudeFirst Four
Digits 0564Second Four Digits 1308Other
Digits Unique Number 1 to ???Sample 0564
1308 816
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Database Options

• Specialized Software (e.g., BG-Map
  www.bg-map.com) expensive, requires training,
  BUT designed for plant record-keeping
• Generic (e.g., Microsoft Access) inexpensive,
  familiar to most people, BUT users must create
  structure for record-keeping

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Plant Records What to Include

• Accession Number
• Scientific Name (incl. var., cv.)
• Common Name
• Family Name
• Nativity (tree is native to where?)
• When Planted
• Age

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• Ancestry (origin nursery name, etc.)
• How acquired (donated, purchased, cost)
• Labeled or not
• History (diseases, pruning, fertilization,
  phenology)

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Labeling Your Plants

• Display Plaques (only some trees) 10
  www.metalphoto.com, www.precisiondesignsystems.com
  , www.myplantlabel.com
• Accession Tags (all trees) 10 cents engraver,
  2.75 x 1 in aluminum tags, 3 in aluminum nails
  Forestry Suppliers, Inc.

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Augmenting the Meager BudgetTree Donor
Program500 per tree college picks tree,
place, planting date provides plaques, photo on
website, free replacement donor can specify
language on donation plaque.Use excess money to
buy other plants.
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Visitors When You Have No Staff Let the
Website Do the Work

• Arboretum History, Photographs
• Collection Information Species, Locations
• Printable Maps and Directions
• Visitation/Tour Times, Rules, Parking
• Donor/Volunteer Information
• Guidebooks at Guardhouse or Library

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http//www.georgian.edu/arboretum
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Visitors When You Have No StaffRely on Students
and Volunteers

• Train students to lead tours may be paid as
  part of work-study
• Volunteers Alumni, Retirees, Local Garden
  Clubs, Establish a Campus Garden Guild

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Tour Groups / Public Use

• Local Community School (pay fee)
• Garden Clubs (pay fee)
• Girl Scouts
• Pre-college School Groups
• Colleges Re-entry Women
• Alumni (pay fee)
• Casual Visitors (weekends mostly)
• Students Collect Leaves for Projects

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AABGA American Association of Botanical Gardens
and Arboreta

• 160 per year for lt100,000 arboretum budget
• Newsletter and magazine include grant and vendor
  information
• Regional and annual meetings
• Listing on website
• Listserve

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Organizing Trees for Teaching

• Create communities that mimic real ones from
  different bioregions a coniferous forest, a
  hardwood forest, a swamp. Include overstory and
  understory trees, shrubs, herb layer plants

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• Plant trees of same species but different
  geographic origin together to show phenological
  or other differences. Our Tilia platyphyllos
  trees in front of our science building leaf-out
  at different times.

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• Group trees of same genus together to show
  similarities/differences and teach tree
  identification. Oaks, pines, maples, hickories
  are common throughout much of North America and
  each genus contains several species.

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• Variation within a species Group cultivars or
  varieties of same species together. Fagus
  sylvatica (European Beech zones 4-8) weeping,
  purple, weeping purple, tri-color leaved,
  fern-leaved. Acer palmatum (Japanese Maple
  zones 5-8) dozens of cultivars available.

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• Include some isolated, specimen trees so that
  the mature form/shape of the tree will be seen in
  the absence of competition. Teach how the tree
  shape or form is adapted to its environment, or
  for a particular purpose (see Niklas, KJ.
  Adaptive walks through fitness landscapes for
  early vascular land plants. Am J Botany 84
  16-25. 1997)

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Maximize Light Interception
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Acer palmatum (Japanese Maple)
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Maximize Mechanical Stability
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Juniperus virginiana (Eastern redcedar)
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Metasequoia glyptostroboides (Dawn Redwood)
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Students in the Arboretum

• Map the trees and maintain database
• Research on tree growth over time (circumference)
• Tree reports each student does 1 page written
  and oral, brings in twig for verification

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• Watch a tree weekly throughout semester
• Instructor-led tours at various seasons winter
  tree identification, wind pollination, fall color
  variations
• Non-majors do self-guided tour and answer
  questions

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Living Fossil Male / Female Distance Pollen
Travels
Ginkgo biloba (Ginkgo) Zones 4 8 (9)
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Economic Importance Maple Syrup
Acer saccharum (Sugar Maple) Zones 4 8 fall
color
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Deciduous Conifers Metasequoia glyptostroboides
(Dawn Redwood) Zones (4) 5 8 fall
color Taxodium ascendens (Pond Cypress) Zones
(4) 5 9 (10) Taxodium distichum (Bald
Cypress) Zones 4 - 11
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Dioecious Genera or Species Diospyros virginiana
(Persimmon) Zones 4 9 Ginkgo biloba
(Ginkgo) Zones 4 8 (9) can be forced fall
color Gymnocladus dioicus (Kentucky Coffeetree)
Zones 3b 8 fragrant flowers Ilex (Hollies)
Fall/winter color
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Juniperus virginiana (Eastern Redcedar) Zones 3b
9 bird dispersal Nyssa sylvatica (Black Gum)
Zones 4 9 fall color Sassafras albidum
(Sassafras) Zones 4 9 fall color leaf
polymorphism root sprouts Sassafras tea
carcinogenic?

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Winter or Early Spring Flowering Acer rubrum
(Red Maple) Zones 3b 9 fall color Acer
saccharinum (Silver Maple) Zones 3 9 Alnus
serrulata (Alder) Zones (4) 5 9 Cornus mas
(Corneliancherry Dogwood) Zones 4 7 (8)
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Hamamelis (Witchhazel) some flower in
autumn Zones 4 or 5 8 (generally)
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Grafts
Prunus subhirtella var. pendula (Weeping Higan
Cherry) Zones (4) 5 8 early spring flwrs
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Other Commonly Grafted Trees Fagus
(Beeches) Pinus (Pines) Fruit Trees
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Tilia x euchlora (center) Tilia
platyphyllos (left and right)
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Asexual Propagation Root Sprouts Fagus
grandifolia (American Beech) zones 4 - 9 Fagus
sylvatica (European Beech) zones 4 - 7 Populus
alba (White Poplar) zones 3 8 (9) Populus
grandidentata (Bigtooth Aspen) zones 3
7 Populus tremuloides (Quaking Aspen) zones 1 - 7
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Rhus copallina (Winged Sumac) Zones 4 9
outstanding fall color Rhus typhina (Staghorn
Sumac) Zones 4 8 Rhus glabra (Smooth
Sumac) Zones 3 9 Robinia pseudoacacia (Black
Locust) Zones 4 8 (9) Sassafras albidum
(Sassafras) Zones 4 - 9
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Rhus copallina (Winged Sumac)
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Features of a Woody Twig
Aesculus hippocastanum (Horsechestnut) (or other
member of Buckeye genus) Zones 4 7 spring
flowers
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Spines and Thorns Craetagus (Hawthorn) Zones 3
or 4 7 or 8 Maclura pomifera (Osage
Orange) Zones 4 9 interesting brain-like
fruit Robinia pseudoacacia (Black Locust) Zones
4 8 (9)
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Maclura pomifera (Osage Orange)
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Bird Dispersal of Seeds Juniperus virginiana
(Eastern Redcedar) Zones 3b - 9 Morus
(Mulberry) Zones 4 (5) 8 (9) Prunus serotina
(Wild Black Cherry) Zones 3 - 9
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Alien Plant Pathogens Hybrids Castanea dentata
(American Chestnut) Zones 4 8 Castanea
mollissima (Chinese Chestnut) Zones 4
8 Castanea mollissima x C. dentata Castanea
Dunstan Zones 4 8
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Franklinia alatamaha (Franklin Tree) zones 5 8
(9) fall color animal pollination
Native Tree Extinct in the Wild Why?
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Other Small-College Arboreta

• http//scottarboretum.org/ (Swarthmore, PA)
• Horticultural library, plant sales, summer
  concerts in amphitheatre, workshops, internships
• http//arboretum.geneseo.edu/ (SUNY-Geneseo)
• Herbarium, LTER, extensive use for research and
  education with examples on website, only 20 acres

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• http//www.gustavus.edu/oncampus/arboretum/index.c
  fm (Gustavus Adolphus, MN)
• Three ecosystems native to MN, interpretive
  center
• http//www.hillsdale.edu/arboretum/default.htm
  (Hillsdale, MI)
• Extensive activities and events calendar
• http//www.jmu.edu/arboretum/ (James Madison, VA)
• Library holdings, forms for arboretum use, garden
  histories

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• http//www.wellesley.edu/Activities/homepage/web/l
  arboretum.html (Wellesley, MA)
• Extensive listing/photos of information on
  individual trees very useful for instruction
• http//camel2.conncoll.edu/ccrec/greennet/arbo/wel
  come.html (Connecticut Coll, CT)
• Activities and events, native plant list
  cross-referenced with nurseries

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http//www.georgian.edu/arboretumgross_at_georgian.
edu