Guelph University Arboretum

Guelph University Arboretum (Sept. 5th)

We spent a nice afternoon in the University of Guelph Arboretum. I think the arboretum is right up there with the other gardens I've seen in Canada (Montreal, Burlington, Ottawa). It offers a superb tree diversity (especially with regards to leaf trees and shrubs). Aside from the trees the arboretum has a variety of gardens. The most intriguing ones are the James Gosling wilderness gardens, at least in my opinion.

Above are pictures of the more cultivated (meaning with grass in between) tree areas. Other areas look different (prairie like with high grass or woody for example). There are walking and hiking paths everywhere.

Above is a portion of their teaching centre (at least I believe it is a building dedicated to teaching). It is well integrated into the landscape (some sort of japanese concrete style. At least that is the similar style I have seen) and also has a pond attached.

The arboretum has several gardens integrated within its area. The gardens are relative confined in terms of space but nice. There is an Italian garden (no picture), a (wilderness) rose garden (no picture). The English garden had lots of autumn flowers in full bloom.

There is also a Japanese garden with a small stone water feature and a real water pond to the right (not visible in the picture below). The bench there offered space for 2 people to simply sit and reflect.

The most impressive piece aside from the leaf tree areas were definitely the 5 James Gosling Wilderness Gardens. The idea behind the gardens is to give people an idea what can be achieved within normal gardens using native plants while also helping insects, birds and amphibians. To this end there is a fictive spot/place in every garden that models a back yard deck view into the wilderness garden.

Above is the entrance door into the first garden. To the left of me a portion of the first garden can be glimpsed in the shadow.

The above 2 pictures are taken in the The Butterfly, Moth and Hummingbird Garden (1st garden) It has a very neat pond and was in full bloom with lots of bees buzzing around.

Above is the The Native Plants Garden. It is an example of a wilderness garden without lawn. On the right side outside the picture is a miniature brook feature.

The next garden is an example of a Suburban Wilderness Garden. Its main feature is a fenced vegetable garden (in the middle of the picture) with a relatively large lawn. Large shrubs and trees create a natural garden boundary/fence.

The Small City Garden is the most interesting garden. While its area is the smallest its plant diversity and density is very high. Bees buzz around everywhere at the time. The garden has a water feature (visible in the middle of the picture) and a "contemplation" bench (barely visible in the picture: It is behind the shrub underneath the Japanese maple tree in the sunshine). The garden shows what can be done despite in a small back yard. Cool.

Afterwards we walked back towards the main area of the arboretum (the Gosling Gardens are located in a more "wild" corner of the arboretum.

Just a very nice afternoon.