Comments on the Dawes Arboretum, by Miranda Sapp

On our tour this autumn, our first stop was at the Dawes Arboretum in Newark, Ohio. Beman and Bertie Dawes founded the arboretum in 1929. With Beman Dawes' successful career in oil, the Dawes' were able to set up an endowment to sustain the arboretum. The couple were avid nature lovers and you can see that love reflected in the grounds of the arboretum today, over seventy years later.
The Dawes Arboretum started with just 140 acres and has expanded to cover 1,149 acres with future plans in the next coming months to acquire between 600-800 additional acres. The history of the arboretum is one of its many attractions. The presenter of the occasion was Luke E. Messinger, the Interim Director, head of Public Relations, and Education Director at the arboretum. Mr. Messinger graduated from The Ohio State University in 1980, with a major in Horticulture and a minor in Journalism. He recalls both Dr. Struve and Dr. Still and the impact their courses had on him to help pursue his career in public horticulture. After arriving at Dawes, he realized the importance of not only the plant knowledge needed for his position, but also the business sense required to be a part of the arboretum's operations. Mr. Messinger emphasized the importance in the public horticulture industry of the customer or visitor. When speaking of the arboretum he stressed that with the "demand for green space" visitor services would have to be increased all around. Luke Messinger pointed out to the tour that two departments and a few other attractions set the Dawes Arboretum apart from other public gardens. The two departments that the arboretum has that other arboretums might not offer are the History Center and the Nature Center. Both of these departments are a direct reflection of plans to educate and to encourage the appreciation of plants and wildlife by the visitors of the arboretum. Another attraction that stands out is the recent addition of a cartographer to the staff of the arboretum. Using the GPSGIS system for the mapping an accurate map of the grounds are in progress.

A large Nyssa sylvatica, Black Gum
at the Arboretum

One other point of interest Mr. Messinger noted, even though the events have not proceeded as well as he would have liked, was the Summer Concert Series they introduced in recent years. He pointed out that with any new endeavor problems will arise, but future plans to alleviate those difficulties are in the works. Lastly, the arboretum grounds are used in conjunction with other organizations to do what Mr. Messinger referred to as "secondary research." Plant evaluations for such groups as the Chicago Land Growers and the Ohio Fruit Growers Association are a constant at the arboretum.
The arboretum also offers scheduled events and classes to its visitors. A yearly plant sale every third Saturday of May gives the public the opportunity to purchase rare and unusual plants at very reasonable prices. The endowment that covers 96% of the operating costs per year allows the arboretum to offer its visitors attractions without overextending them. Another yearly event is the deer-hunting lottery. Bow hunters can enter the lottery every year for the chance to hunt and offers the arboretum the valuable service of helping to control the deer population. Finally, the arboretum offers what they call "plant clinics" to the visitors. This allows non-experts to ask questions not only about the plant material in the arboretum, but about their own plants they may have at home.

Students admiring part of the Arboretum

 After the presentation, the tour was then allowed to go exploring in the arboretum. The first stop was at the Asian collection. The mirror pond was very nice with its surrounding landscape of plants and hard materials to add interest. The next stop was at the conifer collection. The arboretum offers 400 acres of collections with almost 15,000 different plants. The conifer display and the Asian trail offered just a glimpse of the vast selection of viewing the arboretum has to offer. And you can not stop at the Dawes Arboretum without checking out the 3,321 arborvitae that spell out DAWES ARBORETUM. Just one more attraction that adds to the unique quality the Dawes Arboretum provides for the public.

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