Home Demonstration Gardens

The Cross Cutting Garden gives the homeowner a great idea of which perennials and annual plantings they might use for flower arranging.  There are 29 different perennials and annuals represented in the garden. Please refrain from cutting or collecting, though, so that everyone can enjoy the garden.

This garden contains many common vegetables and some that are unusual. Along with the vegetables themselves, there is a water trough feature, a small sculpture called Looking for Rain by Miriam Bennett. There are espaliered apples, and The Stephen F. Keating Home Greenhouse (a backyard greenhouse). Fruit trees, shrubs and perennials, strawberries (Fragaria) are located outside the fence near the compost bins. There are 32 varieties of fruit trees and shrubs, and 23 perennials in all. Each year, we display a new thematic vegetable design.

The Edmundson Garden for Outdoor Living is a wonderful small backyard garden with a patio, table and chairs, lawn, perennial and annual plants, and flowering shrubs and trees. It is amazing what can be accomplished in a small space in a semi formal garden. There are seven species of trees, 19 shrubs, 57 perennials and myriad annuals.

The Bachman Garden for Small Spaces represents a small urban space, perhaps a patio area that contains small trees, flowering shrubs, perennials, annuals, vegetables and herbs.  There are 41 different kinds of plants.

Just outside the Slade Perennial Garden, the kitchen herb garden has a large collection of 23 genera and 34 species of perennial herbs. There are also about 700 annual herb plants put in the ground each year. This garden is probably the most popular of the six herb gardens at the Arboretum. Visitors are always interested in new seasonings for their food. The Minnesota Herb Society works with Arboretum gardeners and contributes time, money and plants to make this garden a real treat.

Given by the Lake Minnetonka Garden Club, the Knot Garden represents a period of European history when wealthy folk had the time to make their herb plantings intriguing.  We would venture to guess that like the royalty they competed for the most interesting, beautiful and unusual! This pattern garden is best viewed from the Kitchen Herb Garden or the Wedding Tower. It comprises Korean boxwood, Japanese barberry, lavender cotton and germander. A centerpiece of this garden is a fan-shaped Meteor Sour Cherry espalier flanked on either side by two Zestar apple trees also espaliered against the wall in a serpentine pattern. It is a beautiful viewing garden but quite practical given the variety of herbs. 

This unusual set of three herb gardens spills down the hillside from the Slade Perennial Garden to the walkway leading to the Ordway Shelter. 

The Cloister Garden reminds one of a medieval monastic garden containing herbs used as medicinal cures and salves. There are 59 different genera and 69 species of plants in all. American bittersweet (Celastrus scandens) and hops (Humulus lupulus) climb the arbor. 

Just over the hill, follow your nose to the Fragrant Herb Garden, which also contains delightful flowers. There are 72 genera and 95 species here, ranging from moss roses (Rosa rugosa) to Gold Band Lily (Lilium auratum). 

You will find the the Dyers Garden at the bottom of this hill, is along the walkway to the Ordway Shelter. It contains shrubs, perennials and annuals representing a small selection of plants used for dyes for clothes, making utensils, and personal adornment items. Plants range from Bloodroot (Sanguinaria canadensis) to Yucca (Yucca filimentosa) with 34 species and 30 genera represented. 

The sixth herb garden is in the de Vos Home Demonstration Gardens.  Its description is found there.

The Ludwick Naturalistic Garden is an informal backyard garden with small stone patio and bench, a wide variety of native and a few non-native perennials, shrubs and trees.  At the upper end is a mother and child sculpture by Michael Price.  The garden is framed by white fir (Abies concolor) and white pine (Pinus strobus) and includes some unusual plants such as sweetfern (Comptonia peregrina) and bladdernut (Staphylea trifolia). This garden contains some 40 genera with nine species of trees, nine species of shrubs and 45 species of perennials.

Starts at one of the wooden alee with hanging pots and patio containers and ends with massive stone planters.  All of the pots contain annual and perennial plantings that change yearly. Some have dwarf trees, shrubs and perennials.  About 20 different kinds of trees, shrubs, perennials and annuals are displayed here, demonstrating the myriad plants that can grow well in containers..

At the near end of the de Vos Gardens (near the Visitor Center), the Rock Garden displays a wide variety of alpine plants that are hardy in Minnesota. The Minnesota Rock Garden Society supports this garden through maintenance and donations of plant material. There are 282 different species of rock garden plants represented.

The Downing Seasonal Garden is along the walk at the inner edge of the de Vos Gardens. It displays the All American Selections of annual plant winners for last year. It provides a great introduction to new plants, which are chosen based on data from trail gardens all over North America. There are typically 5-7 new varieties each year.

The Behrens Weed Exhibit was added in 2005 with the help of Dr. Richard Behrens, a weed specialist in the University of Minnesota’s Agronomy Department. It is one of the most popular demonstration gardens. It is not unusual to hear “oh, so that’s what that weed is!” or “so that’s Creeping Charlie! I have it everywhere.”  This “garden” is a series of "pots” (PVC pipes) with a different weed growing in each.  There are 36 different weeds represented.  (You wouldn’t believe how hard it is to keep the weeds looking good!).