1975
- The Heritage arboretum began in 1975 as part of the Plant Environmental Research Center (PERC), when the University donated six acres of land to the Department of Horticulture and Landscape Architecture.
- Planting began in 1976. The arboretum was later expanded to a total of seven and one-half acres in 1991
1980
- Dr. James Klett is hired and develops/manages the arboretum for the next 42 years
- Original plan divided the area by woody plant families
- Area had irrigation installed with frost free hydrants to enable to irrigate year round
- Site was previously a trailer court for married student housing.
- Area was predominantly Ulmus pumila (Siberian Elm) which were eventually removed
- A limited initial planting was done in each of the woody plant families in 1980 and 1981
1982
- Approximately 135 different woodys were planted from about 20 different nurseries from Colorado and throughout the U.S
- Most plants received as bare root and containerized and grown for one or two years before planting
- 60 different taxa were directly planted into arboretum
- Arboretum was designed on a grid pattern and exact locations of plant materials were recorded
- All plant were given trial selection (TS) number and all plants labeled with scientific name, common name, family, source and trial selection number
In the early days there was a turf research area for bent grass studies used for golf putting greens mixed in amongst the woody plants.
View toward the early plantings of the Fabaceae family plants and very small Honeylocust trees.
View of the Lilac collection.
View of the Thuja collection looking west from the golf putting green.
1990’s
- A computerized method for collection, storage and retrieval of information on plant performance was established
- Continued to receive additional woody plants yearly throughout the 1990’s
- 1992 – 110 different woody plant taxa acquired and 28 different taxa were planted
- Fall 1992 – Additional 1.5 acres obtained and planted in 1993
- 1996 – 84 different taxa acquired from 18 different nurseries, USDA, experimental stations etc
- 1996 – Technical Bulletin entitled “Woody Plants for the High Plains” was published covering 10-12 years of plant evaluation data on these plants
- 1997 – In southeast corner of Arboretum a Plant Select woody plant demo garden established
- In early 1990’s – Research Associate David Staats was hired to help with yearly data acquisition of these woody plants and web-site development to make this information available to all industry personnel and other interested citizens
Small lindens beginning to get established.
Young Prunus trees coming into bloom. Large Siberian Elm trees along the fence were originally a wind break prior to the land becoming an arboretum and were removed.
View out across the Salix and Populus collections.
Early view of the Lilac collection.
Newly planted trees becoming established with older plantings.
Much of the arboretum was originally planted with grass which was slowly replaced with wood chip mulch as the trees grew and shaded out the turf.
View of the Eounymus and Thuja collections in the early 1990’s.
2000’s
- In the spring of 2003, a new dormitory(Summit Hall) was constructed on campus, taking away one and one-half acres of the PERC/Heritage arboretum.
- Approximately 120 taxa that were located in this area were tree-spaded and moved to a new six-acre arboretum site on Centre Avenue in Fort Collins, adjacent to the Gardens at Spring Creek. This site is now called the Centre Avenue Arboretum.
- All these woody plants were tree spaded and moved to new site near Center Ave on the south west portion of campus
- In this area woody plants again planted by family but in rows with drip irrigation
Spring time bloom on the crabapples.
New foliage and abundant blooms cover many of the Pyrus and Spireas.
Trees in the Ash collection became much taller.
Many of the Lilacs reached their mature growth habit.
Evaluation for fall color is an important aspect of the plant evaluations.
The arboretum is beautiful even in the winter.
To make space for building Summit Hall, many large trees were moved to the newly created Centre Avenue site.
2010 – present
- In 2014 – 2nd Technical Bulletins published entitled “Dependable Landscape Plants from The CSU Arboretum”, listing and describing top woody plants again
- Late 2014 – University decided to build On-Campus Stadium on part of Plant Environmental Research Center
- 2015-2016 – While most of the PERC facilities are relocated, the PERC Arboretum stays intact and is enhanced with, pathways, signage, benches and an official entrance on Lake Street with the creation of the new Heritage Garden. It is renamed the “Heritage Arboretum” and becomes a major component of the newly developed University Campus-wide arboretum
- 2020 – The campus-wide arboretum was elevated to a Level 3 out of 4 from ArbNet-Accredited Arboretum.
Student and the public often find the arboretum as a quiet oasis amongst the busy campus.
Benches were added to help visitors stop and appreciate the beauty of trees.
Due to the construction of the new stadium, the Perennial Demonstration garden was moved near the current Flower Trial site on Remington Street. This European Hornbeam was relocated to the Heritage arboretum with a 120” tree spade.
The Campus Wide Arboretum created a “Notable Tree Walk” around the campus. The large European Hornbeam tree that was moved is possibly a Colorado Champion tree and part of the CSU Campus Wide Arboretum tree walk.
In addition to creating the new stadium, the university also created the new Heritage Gardens and a new entry for the Heritage Arboretum.
Trees reached mature size and caused previous turf areas to thin out which were replaced with wood chip mulch.
The creation of the Heritage Garden also resulted in a formal entrance for the arboretum and an outside meeting area for small groups.
New pathways were added and made the Heritage Arboretum much more accessible for the public to enjoy and learn about woody plants.
Pathways meander through the arboretum to create a very relaxing environment.
Signage was added at both the North and South end of the entrances to help guide visitors and explain the purpose of the Heritage Arboretum.
