Arboretums in Lincoln, Nebraska
The term ‘Arboretum’ is something rarely heard nowadays because there are several names that have been used in its stead over the decades. An arboretum is actually some sort of botanical garden wherein majority of the plants featured are trees and other woody plant species. Plants grown in arboretums function not just as aesthetic displays but many of them are sometimes used for scientific researches and as a means of environmental preservation.
The City of Lincoln, along with other cities found in the State of Nebraska, seems like an exceptionally eco-friendly place because of the existence of several arboretums there while as most other cities in the world do not even maintain one.
Maxwell Arboretum
This vast Lincoln arboretum span five acres and is found within the campus premises of University of Nebraska in Lincoln. The Maxwell Arboretum is now more than half a century old and was pioneered fifty years ago by one Earl G. Maxwell. This exceptional teacher and forester promoted the planting of trees in Nebraska and imprinted his positive environmental views among the impressionable minds of his youthful students.
The Maxwell Arboretum is considered as the second site of the state’s collection of arboretums called the Nebraska Statewide Arboretum System. Some example of trees and woody plants that are found in the Maxwell Arboretum are chestnut trees, oak trees, Scots pine and expansive plains of wild flowers and shrubs.
State Fair Park Arboretum
The number of people who come to see this exceptional Lincoln arboretum every year exceeds one million. The main feature of the State Fair Park Arboretum is a display of several kinds of gardens including a rock garden, vegetable garden, water garden, butterfly garden and even an ornamental grass garden. With all these types of gardens plus over two hundred species of plants, it is no wonder that State Fair Park Arboretum enjoys over a million visitors every year.
Joshua C. Turner Arboretum
Another arboretum found with a Lincoln campus is the Joshua C. Turner Arboretum in Union College. This Lincoln arboretum spans a whopping thirty acres and is home to a large number of tree, shrub and other woody plant species. Being located with a university, the Joshua C. Turner Arboretum also functions as venue for learning and education. Best of all, students do not just simply learn facts about the environment but the arboretum also encourages them to develop an appreciation of the natural surroundings.
Alice Abel Arboretum
Schools and educational institutions in Nebraska seem to promote environmental preservation very well since the Alice Abel Arboretum is another Lincoln arboretum located with a college. Here, interested individuals can go on walking tours around the 25-acre wide arboretum where they can see more than a hundred tree and perennial plant species.