Best Campus Gardens

College Search & Lists
1

<p>I need lots of green space, so gardens are my favorite part of any college campus. Now that it’s starting to get warmer, students can get out and enjoy them more. Which colleges do you think have the biggest and best gardens? </p>

<p>Please add pictures!</p>

<p>Three rules:
[ul][<em>]The gardens should be largely devoid of academic facilities and constitute a somewhat distinct entity.
[</em>]Gardens must be on or near campus. Gardens not part of a contiguous campus do not count.
[li]The garden(s) should be owned and operated by the college. Public parks directly adjacent to colleges or within easy walking distance (e.g. Jackson Park in Chicago) may be described, but their public status should be noted.[/ul]</p>[/li]
<p>[Admin Note - Got a photo? Add it to the [Campus</a> Vibe](<a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/vibe/]Campus”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/vibe/) photo set for that school!]</p>

2

<p>Furman University has a lovely rose garden. The gardeners cut the roses and leave them for passersby and students to take! There is also a Japanese garden, I believe. Sorry, I don’t have any photos.</p>

3

<p>Princeton University Prospect Gardens</p>

<p><a href=“http://www.ronsaari.com/stockImages/newJersey/ProspectHouseAndGardens.jpg[/url]”>http://www.ronsaari.com/stockImages/newJersey/ProspectHouseAndGardens.jpg&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p><a href=“http://www.princeton.edu/main/images/news/2006/08/IMG_7996-i-PGardens.jpg[/url]”>http://www.princeton.edu/main/images/news/2006/08/IMG_7996-i-PGardens.jpg&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>[File:Prospect</a> Garden Flower Garden Princeton.jpg - Wikimedia Commons](<a href=“http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Prospect_Garden_Flower_Garden_Princeton.jpg]File:Prospect”>http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Prospect_Garden_Flower_Garden_Princeton.jpg)</p>

<p><a href=“http://www.istockphoto.com/file_thumbview_approve/6054769/2/istockphoto_6054769-garden-at-princeton.jpg[/url]”>http://www.istockphoto.com/file_thumbview_approve/6054769/2/istockphoto_6054769-garden-at-princeton.jpg&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

4

<p>The Nichols Arboretum of the University of Michigan is lovely any time of year:</p>

<p><a href=“http://me.engin.umich.edu/NAMRC/800px-NicholsArb.jpg[/url]”>http://me.engin.umich.edu/NAMRC/800px-NicholsArb.jpg&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p><a href=“http://www.ur.umich.edu/0708/May27_08/img/080527_cal_arb.jpg[/url]”>http://www.ur.umich.edu/0708/May27_08/img/080527_cal_arb.jpg&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p><a href=“nichols arboretum pictures - AOL Image Search Results”>nichols arboretum pictures - AOL Image Search Results;

5

<p>The W. J. Beal Botanical Garden is a 5-acre (2.0 ha) botanical garden located on the campus of Michigan State University in East Lansing, Michigan. It is the oldest continually-maintained university botanical garden in the United States, and is open to the public without charge year round during daylight hours.</p>

<p>The Garden currently displays over 2,500 different plant taxa, comprising over 5,000 species, in economic, systematic, landscape and ecological groupings.</p>

<p>The Garden was started by Prof. William J. Beal in 1872 with a nursery, followed in the subsequent year by test plots of 140 species of forage grasses and clovers, and an arboretum in 1874 which began as two rows of swamp white oaks. The Gardens developed from these original starting points until 1950, when they were reorganized and redesigned by Prof. Milton Baron to form today’s four main groupings. In 1954, the Garden began participating in the international seed exchange program, publishing its first Index Seminum, and in 1961 was extended with a collection of acidophilous plants including rhododendrons, azaleas, and ferns. More recently, a collection of Michigan’s endangered plants was added in 1986, and the non-flowering vascular plant collection was started in 2001 with ephedras, conifers, ginkgo, cycads, ferns, horsetails and clubmosses.</p>

<p>Official Site: [Welcome</a> to the W.J. Beal Botanical Garden](<a href=“http://www.cpp.msu.edu/beal/]Welcome”>http://www.cpp.msu.edu/beal/)</p>

<hr>

<p>Not to mention MSU - as the 1st Land Grant Institution of America reknown for its Horticulture, Botany and Entomology majors also boasts a dozen other gardens (4-H Children’s Garden, The Kathleen D. & Milton E. Muedler Japanese Garden, Horticultural Demonstration Gardens - Koi Pond Garden, Tropical Rainforest Garden, Desert Garden, Rose Garden, Clarence E. Lewis Landscape Arboretum and countless Greenhouses) on its historic picturesque campus.</p>

<p>4-H Children Garden: [Michigan</a> 4-H Children’s Garden at MSU](<a href=“http://4hgarden.msu.edu/]Michigan”>http://4hgarden.msu.edu/)
Clarence E. Lewis Landscape Arboretum: [Clarence</a> E. Lewis Landscape Arboretum - MSU Horticulture](<a href=“http://www.hrt.msu.edu/clarence-e-lewis-landscape-arboretum/]Clarence”>http://www.hrt.msu.edu/clarence-e-lewis-landscape-arboretum/)</p>

<p>*There is really no contest imho!!! This is where it all begin!!! Go Green!!! lol~</p>

6

<p>I was going to post Beal too Sparkeye. It is beautiful to be sure!</p>

7

<p>Swarthmore has beautiful open space.</p>

8

<p>Duke has beautiful gardens: [The</a> Sarah P. Duke Gardens](<a href=“http://www.hr.duke.edu/dukegardens/]The”>Duke Gardens | Learning, inspiration and enjoyment)</p>

9

<p>“I was going to post Beal too Sparkeye. It is beautiful to be sure!”</p>

<p>Appreciate the thought, rjk!! </p>

<p>Always proud of attended the pioneer Land-Grant College via Morrill Act by Abraham Lincoln. :)</p>

10

<p>Hamilton College</p>

<p>[Hamilton</a> College - Arboretum - Home](<a href=“http://www.hamilton.edu/arboretum]Hamilton”>Arboretum - trees - Environment - Hamilton College)</p>

<p>and a nice picture:</p>

<p><a href=“http://puka.cs.waikato.ac.nz/custom/cic/collect/cic-hcap/index/assoc/p757.dir/Campus%20(aerial%20view),%20Hamilton%20College-large.jpg[/url]”>http://puka.cs.waikato.ac.nz/custom/cic/collect/cic-hcap/index/assoc/p757.dir/Campus%20(aerial%20view),%20Hamilton%20College-large.jpg&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

11

<p>Here’s a panorama of the Furman rose garden:</p>

<p>[Gardens</a> - Janie Earle Furman Rose Garden - John Riley - 224/317 - World Wide Panorama](<a href=“http://worldwidepanorama.org/worldwidepanorama/wwp606/html/JohnRiley-2418.html]Gardens”>Gardens: Janie Earle Furman Rose Garden | The World Wide Panorama)</p>

<p>Pictures of the Japanese garden and more of the rose garden:</p>

<p>[Indigo</a> Blue | Furman University](<a href=“indigobluesc.com”>indigobluesc.com)</p>

12

<p>I will second Furman, their rose garden is spectacular. It is a little smaller but it packs a punch.</p>

13

<p>USC Rose Gardens:</p>

<p><a href=“http://cbsla.files.■■■■■■■■■■■■■/2010/11/exporosegarden.jpg[/url]”>http://cbsla.files.■■■■■■■■■■■■■/2010/11/exporosegarden.jpg&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

14

<p>Stanford:</p>

<p><a href=“http://images.businessweek.com/ss/08/02/0204_financial_aid/image/stanford.jpg[/url]”>http://images.businessweek.com/ss/08/02/0204_financial_aid/image/stanford.jpg&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p><a href=“http://math.stanford.edu/inc/img/PalmDrive.png[/url]”>http://math.stanford.edu/inc/img/PalmDrive.png&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p><a href=“http://pangea.stanford.edu/research/groups/hydrogeology/image/stanford.jpg[/url]”>http://pangea.stanford.edu/research/groups/hydrogeology/image/stanford.jpg&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

15

<p>Great input so far; keep them coming! I have to admit that the Stanford garden wasn’t exactly what I was thinking of, but the other schools (especially Furman, Michigan, and MSU) look very nice.</p>

<p>I’ll add Coker at UNC. It’s a little small and noisy, but it’s still quite nice. I’ve always liked the arbor especially.</p>

<p>[North</a> Carolina Botanical Garden / Gardens And Natural Areas / Coker Arboretum](<a href=“http://ncbg.unc.edu/pages/38/]North”>http://ncbg.unc.edu/pages/38/)</p>

<p>I also enjoyed the botanical garden at UNC Asheville immensely.</p>

<p><a href=“http://www2.unca.edu/campusmap/gardens.htm[/url]”>http://www2.unca.edu/campusmap/gardens.htm&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

16

<p>I grew up in a small town in northern Michigan and always enjoyed the wide open spaces of the north woods. The Nichols Arboretum at the University of Michigan was a life-saver for me. Two or three times a week I’d take a leisurely walk in “the Arb” and find a solitary secluded spot where I didn’t feel hemmed in by civilization. Bliss. And better: by late in my freshman year I met a girl who loved the Arb as much as I did. She became my soulmate for those college years. Often as not our “dates” consisted of a walk in the Arb, just us, and the fresh breeze, and our friends the trees, and the chattering birds. A pre-dawn trek to the Arb to watch the sun come up was a peak experience.</p>

17

<p>Duke’s Sarah Duke gardens are fantastic. Springtime at the Duke gardens are beautiful with acres of flowers and a worldly collection of unique trees and shrubs.</p>

18

<p>Reynolda Gardens at Wake Forest University</p>

<p>[Reynolda</a> Gardens Through the Seasons](<a href=“http://www.reynoldagardens.org/tour01.html]Reynolda”>http://www.reynoldagardens.org/tour01.html)</p>

19

<p>The UVa gardens are really nice:
[Explore</a> the Gardens, University of Virginia](<a href=“http://www.virginia.edu/uvatours/gardens/gardensExplore.html]Explore”>http://www.virginia.edu/uvatours/gardens/gardensExplore.html)</p>

20

<p>Agreed about UVa gardens. They are surrounded by buildings and serpentine brick walls that were personally designed by Thomas Jefferson.</p>