Native Gardens
Our Native Plant Gardens
Our native plant gardens offer a glimpse of the diversity and beauty of plants naturally adapted to our local climate and soils. While there are several garden areas on campus that are dedicated solely to native plants, there are native plants all around us, including our trees. Our garden areas, as well as our tree canopy, are a blend of native and non-invasive exotics in order to provide a wide range of plants for visitors to enjoy. Moreover, our campus arboretum & botanical gardens support our students' classroom education and we work to provide a comprehensive teaching collection, in addition to supporting the wildlife in our area.
Why Native Plants at the University of Maryland?
The arboretum and botanical garden is an invaluable resource for Maryland's flagship campus. The native plant gardens are used to document, understand and teach about current and regionally important forces of nature and our impact on the environment. The gardens also serve to increase public environmental literacy for a sustainable future. For example, the plants in our native plant gardens are sourced from respected local growers or grown from seeds collected and saved on campus. The seeds provide a "bank" of locally valuable Maryland plant species and wildflowers. The flowers you see will produce seeds to be sown to restore our native plant populations. Our newest buildings on campus support native plant gardens with enhanced landscapes, such as Edward St. John Learning & Teaching Center and the Brendan Iribe Center for Computer Science and Engineering. While these landscapes are far more labor intensive than having a turf lawn, the effort supports our campus goals of sustainability and these plants are locally adapted to provide food and shelter for wildlife such as migratory birds, insect pollinators, frogs and turtles.
