The University of Minnesota Landscape Arboretum: A Century of Growth and Discovery
The University of Minnesota Landscape Arboretum stands as the largest, most diverse, and complete horticultural site in Minnesota, boasting a rich history spanning nearly a century. From its humble beginnings as a horticultural research center to its current status as a world-class destination attracting over half a million visitors annually, the Arboretum has continually evolved to meet the changing needs of the community and the environment.
Origins and Early Development
The Arboretum's roots trace back to 1907 with the establishment of the Horticultural Research Center. The Horticultural Research Center was founded to develop cold-hardy crops and plants that could tolerate and thrive in a northern climate. This initiative was driven by the Minnesota State Horticultural Society, which successfully petitioned for a fruit breeding and testing farm to be part of the University of Minnesota's Horticulture Department. The farm began on seventy-eight acres purchased five miles west of Excelsior, with more land acquired in subsequent years, bringing the total to 230 acres.
Early efforts focused on fruit breeding, with the introduction of the "Latham" raspberry in 1914 marking the first success. By 1923, twenty-nine new varieties were being enjoyed. Among the better-known varieties were the "Fireside" and "Haralson" apples, the "Northstar" cherry, and the "Superior" plum. The "Haralson" was very successful and provided more income than any other Minnesota apple variety.
Despite these early successes, the farm faced yearly money and weather problems. Droughts, floods, and extreme cold or heat caused problems for plants. Money problems were addressed by using Works Progress Administration workers during the Depression in the 1930s. Department of Agriculture (USDA) and the National Fruit Breeding Program in 1938. The Fruit Breeding Farm continued to grow and produce new hardier fruit varieties. Between 1919 and 1953, sixty-two new varieties came out.
Plant breeders from the University of Minnesota developed hardy cultivars of many types of fruits, with apples being the largest project. Peter Moe, who has been with the arboretum for 37 years and is now its director of operations and research, said, “It just takes one night of 32 below in January or February; any plant that is not hardy to that temperature could have injury.” Flower buds on azaleas are the most vulnerable part of the plant, and one cold night could damage the buds. Extreme cold can cause a trunk injury or xylem damage within the trunk that can shorten the life of a tree. The arboretum’s apple-breeding program has developed a number of renowned varieties. The Haralson apple in 1922 was the first to catch on with the orchard industry, according to Moe. Honeycrisp trees thrive in a climate with cool nights and moderate daytime temperatures leading up to the harvest season. “Apples are really heterozygous [having alternative forms of the same gene],” said Moe. An F1 apple cross [a term used in breeding] has all sorts of genes that aren’t expressed in either one of the parents and might show up in the progeny.
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Leon C. Snyder and the Birth of the Arboretum
Dr. Leon C. Snyder, who was in charge between 1953 and 1970, played a pivotal role in the Arboretum's development. Snyder dreamed of an outdoor laboratory to create new plants and an outdoor living classroom for students. He first planted shrubs and trees around his home on the farm, and then later planted in the farm's open fields. In 1954, Snyder started the Woody Landscape Breeding Program. Soon after, in 1958, land was purchased by the University of Minnesota for a Landscape Arboretum. In 1967, the Fruit Breeding Farm became the Horticultural Research Center (HRC), growing more than just fruit. The Minnesota Landscape Arboretum was established on 160 acres.
In 1958, the Arboretum itself was begun on 160 acres (0.65 km2) founded by Leon C. Snyder.
Expansion and Development of Infrastructure
The Arboretum has undergone significant expansion and infrastructure development over the years. In its early years, the tree collections were pretty well in place. The Dayton Wildflower Garden had been established early on. The first bog boardwalk had been built, and the prairie had been established-one of the first planted prairies in Minnesota. But there were no major buildings yet. What we now call the Frog Hollow building, next to the maple syrup building, we then called the classroom building. They parked vehicles and mowers in it at night, but during the day they would set up folding chairs in one of the spaces when they needed to teach a class.
Peter Moe got his start at the Chaska, Minnesota, greenwood as a student gardener while he was studying horticultural science at the University of Minnesota. After graduation, he was hired as a research plot technician for the Arboretum’s Horticultural Research Center. From there, he rose to landscape maintenance supervisor, director of operations and research, and finally director, in 2016.
Along the way, Moe has seen “the Arb” grow from 600 to 1,200 acres (it began as 160 acres in 1958), add a handful of major buildings (see sidebar below), and expand its public programming from a handful of classes to an array of offerings that draw more than a half-million visitors annually.
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Several key buildings have been added to the Arboretum's landscape, each serving a unique purpose:
- Leon C. Snyder Education and Research Building: Designed by Edwin Lundie and built in 1974, this building marked a significant step forward, enabling the Arboretum to host horticultural conferences and educational programs. It also housed a tearoom and gift store, contributing to earned income.
- Marion Andrus Learning Center: Opened in 1983, this center emphasized educating children and expanded the Arboretum's capacity for educational programs.
- Oswald Visitor Center: Opened in 2005, the Oswald Visitor Center provided ample space for large events, conferences, and exhibitions. It is also one of the largest public buildings in Minnesota to utilize geothermal technology, contributing to energy efficiency.
- Tashjian Bee and Pollinator Discovery Center: This center, completed more recently, has received an AIA COTE Top Ten Award, one of the most prestigious sustainable design awards in the world. The building serves as a base for summer camps and features exhibits and learning labs focused on bees and pollinators.
- The Farm at the Arb: In 2019, an historic red barn was renovated into the Farm at the Arb, creating an iconic destination and event space to connect people with the food they eat through interpretive exhibits highlighting Minnesota-grown crops, fruits and vegetables.
- Burton and Virginia Myers Education Center: The Burton and Virginia Myers Education Center is now open at the Farm at the Arb!
- McQuinn Horticulture and Operations Headquarters: The McQuinn Horticulture and Operations Headquarters also contribute to the Arboretum's infrastructure.
Accessibility and Inclusion
Recognizing the importance of accessibility, the Arboretum has made significant strides in creating pathways and facilities that can be enjoyed by people of all abilities. Much of that work began in Peter Olin’s tenure as director [1984-2008]. With his background in landscape architecture, Peter wanted to create accessible pathways across the whole Arboretum for people of every ability and age. We’re still working to expand accessibility today.
The completion of the Three-Mile Walk, a paved pathway, just before the COVID-19 pandemic proved to be a valuable asset, allowing visitors to experience the Arboretum in a safe and accessible manner. The Sensory Garden, located below the Rose Garden, provides a home base for nature-based therapy programs, enabling visitors in wheelchairs to engage with plants up close.
Sustainability and Environmental Stewardship
The Arboretum is committed to sustainable practices and environmental stewardship. The integration of rain gardens into parking lots, as exemplified by the expanded Marion Andrus Learning Center, demonstrates a commitment to managing stormwater runoff in an environmentally responsible manner.
The Tashjian Bee and Pollinator Discovery Center exemplifies sustainable design principles, utilizing solar panels and geothermal heating and cooling to minimize its environmental impact. The building is very close to net-zero energy, with its solar panel and geothermal heating and cooling. It’s wired for an expansion of the photovoltaic array, which would easily cover all of the building’s energy needs. The Bee Center is very easy to maintain.
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The arboretum researches methods to preserve water quality and restore wetlands. Rainwater gardens of hardy plants sited in low-lying areas trap and absorb runoff from roofs and streets. As for the facility's own water needs, municipal water from Chanhassen serves the northern part of the arboretum, including its visitors and learning center. A research center and greenhouse, to the west in Victoria, uses a noncommunity public well with softening and deionizing performed on the water. “In the conservatory, we don’t want spotting on the leaves from minerals,” Moe said. Much of the irrigation throughout the arboretum is done with surface water from Lake Tamarack, to the north, and Green Heron Pond within the grounds.
The Campus Arboretum Initiative
Expanding beyond the traditional boundaries of the Arboretum, Gary Johnson, a retired professor at the U of M, is leading an initiative called the Campus Arboretum. The Twin Cities campus-which includes the East Bank, West Bank, and St. Paul campus-is home to more than 8,000 trees.
The project-based class brought together undergraduate seniors in fields like plant science, urban forestry, and landscape architecture with graduate students studying urban planning.“We thought this would be a great project, because it involves a community that the students are engaged in,” Johnson says. “It’s literally close to home.”
Kylee Gregory, a junior majoring in environmental sciences, says the Campus Arboretum project was more than just a class-it became a personal passion. She came to the U of M from a small town in southern Illinois, and she says the green spaces on campus made her feel more at home. “Coming from a rural area, I felt like I was still connected to nature here, despite being so close to downtown Minneapolis,” she says.
Gregory helped with marketing for the project, including designing signs to invite people to participate in public meetings. A steering committee-made up of students, faculty, staff, U of M neighbors, and University Landcare, which manages about 11,000 trees on the Twin Cities campus-meets regularly to discuss public input and review the sites chosen for the project.
Johnson envisions the project serving as a living classroom for students, faculty, and staff who spend their days on campus. He also hopes it will draw in visitors such as alumni, neighborhood residents, people attending a cultural or athletic event, and prospective students and families.
Patients at the M Health Fairview clinics and hospitals also benefit from campus green spaces, says Erica Timko Olson, who studies nature interventions as an assistant professor at the School of Nursing.“We need to think about how we can become a place of refuge and sanctuary for people going through traumatic times,” says Timko Olson, a frequent guest speaker in Johnson’s classes. “If a patient has an hour between appointments, do they sit in the lobby or do we encourage them to take a walk down the Mall and notice what’s around them?”
Noticing is key, she says: “Being out in nature is great, but engagement with nature-that intentional connection-that’s where the healing happens.”
Looking Ahead
As the Arboretum looks to the future, several key developments are anticipated:
- Potential Expansion: Acquisition of property on the other side of Highway 5 could expand the Arboretum's area, although development on that land is unlikely.
- New Entrance: A new entrance on Highway 5 is planned to improve accessibility and visibility.
- Chinese Garden: Complete the Chinese Garden. The study shows a completely walled garden, with our existing Moon Gate just a little piece of it, and buildings within where people could work on calligraphy and paintings. It includes an auditorium and teaching space, too. The completed Chinese Garden will anchor what we call our south hub.
However, the Arboretum's core mission will remain focused on its plant collections and gardens. The Arboretum’s grounds hold many specific collections of plants including iris, hostas, wildflowers, dahlias, clematis, grasses, and cultivated and hardy shrub roses. There are many special focus areas such as the home demonstration gardens, perennial and annual gardens, a rock garden and a Japanese garden all located near the main visitor buildings and parking lots. Attached to the Snyder Building is a glasshouse conservatory containing plants not hardy in Minnesota’s climate. The public Andersen Horticultural Library, a non-lending horticultural library part of the University of Minnesota, is also in the Snyder Building. On the grounds are examples of restored prairie and wetlands. There is also a sensory garden for therapeutic horticulture. The Arboretum is the ideal place to compare and contrast various woody species when developing a garden or landscape plan. The Arboretum hosts special seasonal events including maple sugaring. There is a 3-Mile Drive through the Arboretum that takes visitors past many of the collections.
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