Inside the Arboretum Teaching Nursery, the new Elizabeth Mary Wolf Environmental Learning Center has been buzzing with activity since its soft opening earlier this year.

This summer, we’ve turned our efforts to upgrading outdoor areas of the Arboretum Teaching Nursery. Smooth concrete now covers the major path arteries that customers use to navigate the nursery. We’ve also enhanced the smaller paths with hexpave and gravel. All of this means cleaner shoes, great traction, easier pulling of loaded carts and...plant sales rain or shine!

The paving project is funded by a generous bequest from Douglas Kauffman. Doug’s sister and long-time volunteer, Terry Davison, says “Doug and his band played music at the plant sales for many years. He would have been proud to see the impact of his giving and know it will benefit everyone who visits the Arboretum Teaching Nursery.” 

We also acknowledge the generous contribution of gravel from Vulcan Materials for the pathway project.

Other improvements are happening at the nursery thanks to donors to our Nuture the Nursery campaign last spring. Improvements include a new sign system to help customers find plants and the renovation of garden demonstration beds at the nursery’s entrance. Nurture the Nursery gifts are also supporting our student environmental Learning by Leading™ intern teams working in the nursery. These upgrades elevate the Arboretum Teaching Nursery even more as an accessible resource for our community and a hub for learning about climate-ready gardening. We can’t wait to show off the improvements to our Friends members, donors, and plant sale customers this fall!