Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, March 10, 1995 TAG: 9503140085
SECTION: LAWN & GARDEN PAGE: L&G-2 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: BETSY BIESENBACH STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Long
But unless a home gardener has a background in horticulture, it's hard to know for sure which plants will do well in this climate and what sun and soil conditions they need.
Virginia Western Community College's Community Arboretum has the solution. The two-acre site at the corner of Colonial Avenue and Winding Way Road has 500 different species of trees, flowers, shrubs and ground covers on display. It is a living encyclopedia of plants, and is open to the public.
"People can come here to see the plants," said Lee Hipp, who oversees the project and has been in charge of Virginia Western's Horticulture program for the past 17 years. "We try to put plants out that would do well in the Roanoke Valley," he said.
The idea for the arboretum came into being 10 years ago, said Hipp, and it became a reality when the facility was dedicated in May 1993.
The horticulture program, which concentrates on ornamental plants rather than agriculture, has been increasing in popularity, Hipp said, especially in the area of landscaping.
As is the case with many service industries these days, there are more job opportunities in the field than he has students to fill them, and several of his former students have gone on to open landscaping businesses of their own.
"It's a real practical, hands-on" course, aimed at preparing people for jobs, he said.
Although the pay scale is low, opportunities in the field seem "almost limitless," Hipp said. Studies show that horticulture is the nation's No. 1 pastime, he said, and businesses have discovered that they attract more customers and workers are more productive when there are plants around. As our society becomes more urbanized, we have a greater need to be around growing things, he said.
But interest in horticulture is not limited to businesses or people who want to work in the field, Hipp said. The arboretum was conceived as "a community outreach, so non-career people can get involved."
The arboretum is meant to be enjoyed by anyone with "an appreciation of plants and nature," Hipp said.
Construction of the project was funded by a variety of sources. The plans were donated by the architect; and the project received grants, non-budgeted funds from WVCC, donations from the local governments and private citizens, as well as hundreds of hours of volunteer labor from area garden clubs and civic organizations, such as Valley Beautiful.
Friends of the Arboretum is a 150-member group of private citizens who also have lent their support to the project.
Donors and volunteers help keep the arboretum running, and the Horticulture Club, a student organization, sponsors fund-raising projects throughout the year, including a poinsettia sale at Christmastime. Proceeds from this sale provide enough money to pay for maintenance, mulch, fertilizer and lawn mowing.
The arboretum includes landscaped grounds and a greenhouse. The grounds are open to the public every day from dawn to dusk, year-round, and people are free to stroll around or to just sit and enjoy the peaceful atmosphere. No matter what the time of year, at least two or three people wander through each day, Hipp said.
The greenhouse provides space for students to work on projects and a place to start seedlings for transplantation outside. The greenhouse is not open to the public, Hipp said, but Susan Barton, the part-time employee who works there, often spends so much time answering questions that she is hard-pressed to get her work done.
People often call Hipp for advice, too, he said, but he always refers those calls to the Virginia Cooperative Extension Service, which specializes in solving problems. The emphasis at Virginia Western is on education and career training, he said.
"People come here to learn about what they are most interested in," Hipp said.
The grounds of the Arboretum are divided into separate areas, with attractive landscaped paths leading between them. Each area has been sponsored or endowed by a group or an individual, and every plant is labeled with its botanical name and its common name.
Next to the greenhouse is a water garden with a small pond. It is stocked with water plants and fish, which at least once have attracted raccoons in search of a snack.
Near Colonial Avenue, where passing cars can see them, are the colorful annual beds. Each year, Hipp's students design and plant the beds as a class project. At the end of the year, usually in October, those plants are given away to the public. Although they are annuals and generally die off, many people take them for the seeds, Hipp said.
A large conifer bed loops around the eastern edge of the site, and is planted with a variety of evergreen trees. Next to it is a bed of small conifers and ornamental shrubs in all shades of blue, green and brown. No two specimens are alike.
A shade garden sits at the top of the hill and features a small patio with a bench and a tall wooden trellis Hipp and several of his students built to accommodate the climbing vines. The plants in this area, such as the ferns, are adapted to living in the shade, but since many of the trees there are still too young to cast much of a shadow, the ferns "have a hard time of it" in the summer, Hipp said.
From the shade garden, a winding path leads through the perennial and herb beds. Herb gardening is increasing in popularity, Hipp said, and this bed has generated a lot of interest.
Near the annual beds, nestled between the herbs and the conifers is a mossy rock garden. The large stones are native rock from Giles county and show the rosy red markings typical of that area. A gazebo at the top of the rock garden gives it a Japanese look, and the gazebo itself has been used for several weddings, Hipp said.
A grassy ellipse lies at the center of the site, ringed in by a stand of white river birch trees. Most varieties of birch do not grow well in this climate, Hipp said, but this one does. Around the base of each tree is a different type of ground cover. Hipp and his students are experimenting with them to see what works best, and to show the many different types of ground cover that are available.
Hipp sometimes refers to this area as the "amphitheater." He hopes someday to be able to provide seating here for musical performances and other events.
For now, most visitors to the arboretum have to take a self-guided tour, but last year, Hipp was able to secure a grant to create a brochure for a walking guide that will be available at a display set up on the grounds. The grant also provides funds for a promotional brochure designed to attract more visitors. There also will be a children's version.
In addition to their regular duties, in the past two years, Hipp, Barton, and several volunteers have given guided tours of the grounds to more than 60 groups, including garden clubs, senior citizens, schoolchildren, and even a contingent of forestry management specialists from Kenya.
Part of this grant money will provide for training of volunteer tour guides, Hipp said. Some of his students are already working on a detailed guide that will describe each plant and its growing conditions and problems.
Hipp says he hopes this guide will be available for sale to visitors at the college's bookstore for a nominal fee. It will be updated yearly, he said.
This year, one of the biggest projects at the arboretum will be the creation of a special garden for children.
Hipp teaches a summer school class for educators who want to learn more about horticulture so they can get their students involved with plants. Many children, he discovered, know so little about nature that they don't want to get their hands dirty touching the soil.
The plants on display probably will have a zoo theme: most of them will have names that refer to animals. Hipp is counting on this to help keep the children interested.
Supporters of the arboretum have even bigger plans in mind. Hipp is the only full-time staff member of the horticulture department, and Barton is the only other employee. Hipp's office is squeezed into space that is several buildings away from the greenhouse and the arboretum.
Fund-raising already is underway for a new facility adjoining the greenhouse that will provide equipment storage, classroom space and a "head house" for potting and working with plants.
As with the plans for the arboretum, the building plans have been donated by the architect. The estimated cost for the project is $187,000. Hipp said, At the end of January only $30,000 had been raised. The arboretum's board of directors is working on fund-raising plans, he said.
Besides the arboretum, the college's horticulture department offers other programs to the public.
Amateur gardeners can sign up for a variety of eight-week-long classes covering topics such as landscaping your home, small engine repair, vegetable gardening, irrigation, caring for vineyards, water gardening, herbs, Bonsai and lawn care. Each class is worth one credit and is taught by experts in each field recruited by Hipp. All are offered on a pass/fail basis, as are other continuing-education courses.
The classes are very popular, he said, and the home landscaping course fills up very quickly. By taking all of the courses, "you can get more out of it than if you took a master gardening program," he said.
In addition, there are three-hour evening seminars on subjects such as wildflower gardening and rock gardening, and workshops on dried herbs and flowers and composting.
For those who are members of the Friends of the Arboretum, there are events such as a yearly plant exchange, and slide shows and excursions.
Like any other exhibit of valuable objects, the arboretum is constantly being maintained and upgraded. It requires a good deal of volunteer work and donations to keep it going. "This is an ongoing project," Hipp said.
by CNB