Exponent Features Purdue Arboretum Project

Paul Siciliano Jr.,
a horticulture and landscape architecture professor and the arboretum’s
director, described an arboretum as “a collection of woody plant
materials like trees and shrubs,” and said the “Purdue arboretum is
unique in that the plants were planted for the purpose of landscaping
the campus, and nothing else.”

“An important aspect of the project is that the
plants are labeled so people will know what they are looking at and will
be encouraged to find out more information about the plants,” Siciliano
said. “We have such a neat collection … that we expanded the
labeling. There was some labeling and some trails that existed on campus
before the idea of an arboretum was conceived. So not only do we now
have all the unique types of plants on campus labeled but, unlike
before, we have additional information provided by the learning
platform.”

The arboretum’s learning platform is in the form
of a website that gives people the ability to scan the QR codes of any
plant in the arboretum to learn more about the plant, take one of the
existing tours of the arboretum, and even create their own tour of their
favorite plants and works of art on Purdue’s campus.

Kirby Kalbaugh, the applications and systems
administrator from the department of horticulture and landscape
architecture, said that the platform is convenient because it doesn’t
require the user to download it.

“Our vision is to be the clearing house for
anything that is outdoors and involves the landscaping,” Kalbaugh said.
“The mobile learning platform’s purpose is to tell the story. The system
will educate the public and also be a resource to those who want to
learn about the different plants in the arboretum.”

Andrea Brennan was the first full-time employee
to work at the arboretum as a student before entering a master’s program
in public horticulture. Brennan was a member of the first group of
student interns when the idea for the arboretum started in 2008.

Brennan and the rest of the team began
documenting the plants around campus, a challenging task, given that the
plants around campus change constantly. The team continued to do this
for several years to cover the span of Purdue’s 956 acres of land.

New trees are planted in the spring and fall of
every year, with an estimate of about 75 new trees arriving to Purdue’s
campus each season. The grounds department plays a part in incorporating
new species around campus and increasing diversity in the arboretum. In
addition to replacing and adding new trees every year, the arboretum’s
next goal is to incorporate Indiana’s native plants into its collection.

“Since we know what we have and what we have is
mapped, we are able to work with facilities planning and the landscape
architect to put our requests in for the trees that we would like to add
to campus, in order to diversify campus,” said Siciliano. “In fact one
of the things we are doing right now is we’re growing Indiana native
plants, trees and shrubs, with the intent to have them be a resource and
to supply the campus with more Indiana native species.”

The Purdue arboretum is not a traditional collection of woody plants.

“Purdue is the only university, that we are aware
of, where the entire campus is a collection of woody plants, and that
gives people the opportunity to learn more about these plants,” Kalbaugh
said.

“It’s a tall task to keep the database accurate
and it’s the students who have given tremendous contributions to this.
Essentially, the student staff workers of the arboretum are the ones
that are out there keeping the system updated and accurate. It’s through
the dedication and the passion of the students that have been involved
with the project from the start that the arboretum is what it is today.

For more information on how you can get involved with the Purdue arboretum and create your own tour, check out their website.