Building an Arboretum

I read with pleasure the comment from Dan Murgor that he is building an Arboretum to help our planet.

What is an Arboretum? According to the definition in the Merrium-Webster dictionary it is “a place where trees, shrubs, and herbaceous plants are cultivated for scientific and educational purposes “though many definitions say it is just “a botanical garden devoted to trees.” This GardenLady prefers the inclusive definition.

I wish Mr. Murgor would write more about his dreams and plans for his Arboretum and also give us readers some more information about the temperature zone location of this Arboretum and the size of the property, so that we could know a little more and give more educated suggestions.

Also, part of the definition of an Arboretum is that it is for scientific and educational purposes. Does Mr. Murgor intend to use his Arboretum for these purposes? This GardenLady gets many people who walk though her garden and ask questions about gardening and the names of the plants. These people often go home with free plants for their gardens as well as answers to their questions. TheGardenLady always encourages plantings over hard topping the property or having large expanses of just grass.

I find what Mr. Murgor is planning to be very exciting. He may join the ranks of people like Mr. and Mrs. Lacy who started what Mr. Lacy calls “the smallest arboretum in the world” in Linwood, NJ. Linwood Arboretum has 200 shrubs and trees on only 1 acre of land. I recommend that Mr. Murgor as well as other readers of this column visit this delightful arboretum to see what can be done even on a small parcel of land. And I am sure that when you visit, the people in charge of the Linwood Arboretum would give advice to those starting their own arboretum. Read this article about it.

Mr. Murgor, you made this GardenLady‘s day when you sent the email that you are starting an Arboretum. I hope you will write to TheGardenLady.org to give more details of your plan.

For the rest of you, visit your nearest Arboretum or google up Arboretum images. And maybe more people will decide to do what Mr. and Mrs. Lacy did and what Mr. Dan Murgor is planning to create.