University of Idaho Arboretum and Botanical Garden
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The University of Idaho Arboretum and Botanical Garden (63 acres) is a major arboretum and botanical garden located within a valley south of the President's Residence on Nez Perce Drive, Moscow, Idaho, USA. It is open to the public daily without charge.
The university's first arboretum was established in 1910 by Prof. Charles Houston Shattuck. He began planting a 14-acre slope with hundreds of introduced trees and shrubs. His legacy, now a grove of mature trees, is one of Western North America's oldest university plantings with superior specimens of American Beech, California Incense-cedar, Field Maple, Eastern Hemlock, and an excellent Giant Sequoia. This older arboretum is located immediately west of the UI Administration Building and north of the President's Residence.
The newer arboretum is divided into four geographical areas of plant origin: Asia, Europe, Eastern North America, and Western North America. In addition, there are sections for display plantings and a xeriscape garden. The arboretum contains 829 species and 1799 taxa of trees and woody shrubs (as of 2005), with planting continuing at a sustained pace. For example, a total of 132 species and 270 taxa were planted in 2004.
Conifers, ornamental species and cultivars of pear, forsythia, cherry, crabapple, lilac, shrub rose, mock orange, magnolia, tree peony, maple, oak, and elm constitute the bulk of the collection. There are also dozens of unusual specimens. Some of the less common trees for the region include Dawn Redwood (Metasequoia glyptostroboides), Ginkgo (Ginkgo biloba), Camperdown Elms (Ulmus glabra 'Camperdownii'), and cultivars of European Beech (Fagus sylvatica).
The arboretum has many walking trails and benches. The loop distance around the arboretum is about 1.4 miles.
