Opened to the public in 1952, Arboretum Volčji Potok originally formed part of the Souvan family estate in 1885, which was taken over by the University of Ljubljana in 1952 and legally declared a place of cultural and natural heritage of national importance. Now independent of the University, it is the most visited horticultural amenity in Slovenia which in recent years has become famous for its spring flower shows. Arboretum, meaning the collection of trees and bushes planted for educational purpose, is primarily a botanical garden for woody plants, the only one in Slovenia.[1]
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The estate Volčji Potok, situated near Kamnik, was already mentioned by Valvasor in the 17th century. The picture, printed in his book, presents the old castle at the top of the hill (first mentioned in 1220) as being already in ruins, and the newest mansion at the foot of the hill, built by Bonhomo family.
The estate changed the owners several times; Bonhomo family was followed by Burger family, then the Gozani family, and in 1882 it came in the ownership of Ferdinand Souvan. He rebuilt the mansion in 1885 and planted the park encircled by walls. His son Leon Souvan enlarged the park by pulling down the walls and planted around 12 hectares with domestic and exotic trees. Instead of demolished walls he planted beech tree hedge at the south and southwest edge. The park was a venue of Slovene impressionists, including Matija Jama.
The 300 years old mansion burned down in 1944. After Leon Souvan had died the park came under the management of the Faculty of Agriculture and Forestry in 1952, today the Biotechnical faculty, University of Ljubljana. The collaboration with the University ended in 1965.
The Arboretum was financially independent between 1965–1999 and has therefore shifted to manufacturing and services. Since 1999 it has been under the management of the Slovene Ministry of Culture.
The institute Arboretum Volčji Potok, established in 2003, manages the cultural monument of state importance and presents its virtues. It takes care for widening the park and garden culture in Slovenia as well as for other cultural state-owned monuments of formed nature. It cooperates with similar institutions worldwide. Evaluation and development of the Arboretum collection, testing the plans and presentation of dendrological cognition are some of the tasks of professional staff.
The original entrance tree avenue from the 19th century continuous with the central part of the park geometrically formed in a French style, while other parts are in English style. The geometrical park, designed in 1918 by Leo Souvan, was standing in front of the mansion, which is missing since 1944. The park leads upstairs to the old park in the immediate vicinity of the missing mansion. The two stone tables are surrounded by two horse chestnut trees and two plane trees, all originating in the 19th century.
A hill overgrown with forest and an archaeological site at the top forms a background to the plantation at the north. At the top of the hill there are ruins of pentagonal Romanesque residential tower, originating in the 13th century, and of walled castle courtyard with a Renaissance bastille at the entrance, from the 16th century.
The Arboretum produces plants in its own nurseries, runs a garden centre, employs a group of landscape architects, and does practical landscaping all over Slovenia. The Arboretum itself comprises 88 hectares of ground with a diversity of soil types, occupied by about 2,500 different species of trees and shrubs. The plant collection has been thoughtfully designed as a landscape park. The park includes five artificial lakes and 30 hectares of forest, which houses particularly important union of fir and three-lobed moss /Bazzania trilobata/.
Trees and bushes belong to the basic botanical species from Europe, North America and Asia as well as to cultivars that have been raised for ornamental purposes. The richest collections of species are of maple, linden trees, birch and beech. To mention are the collection of cultivars of fan-maple /Acer palmatum/, of scaly conifers, of rhododendrons and roses and a collection of evergreen deciduous trees.
In 2003–2004 the interactive herbarium has been established online. The collection consists of selected non-indigenous and native woody plants from the Arboretum.
The park gallery, renovated in 1991 by architect Andrej Kemer and designer Miljenko Licul, exhibits the collection of Janez Boljka animal statues. On the ground floor there is a hall for solemn receptions and wedding ceremonies.
It hosts different cultural events and exhibitions, i.e. the exhibition of models Minimundus presenting also the Bled Castle model for the first time in 2010.