Arboretum History
Arboretum History

The O.A.C. ’56 Park in the Garden

Header image: Aerial of the Park in the Garden, 2020

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The O.A.C. ’56 Park in the Garden is a large, open lawn featuring over 20 specimens of trees. The members and friends of the Ontario Agricultural College’s Class of 1956 graciously funded this collection, granting it the name O.A.C. ’56 Park in the Garden. Thanks to their generosity, this shaded lawn is now a delight for all recreational users of The Arboretum.

To learn more about the Park in the Garden, visit the Gardens page on The Arboretum’s main website.

A field is dotted with large, green trees and saplings. To the right, the edge of a dirt pathway covered by a wooden arbor is seen.

O.A.C. ’56 Park in the Garden in Autumn 1998 (photo by Bob Liptrap).

A lone tree with dark red leaves stands in the middle of a field of brown grass. In the background a forest of green, orange, yellow, and red leaved trees can be seen. A garden fence and arbors are in the background.

Park in the Garden, 1998 (photo by Lina Venerus).

A weeping beech tree stands in the middle of a grass field. Behind it is a tree with bright orange leaves.

Weeping European Beech (Fagus sylvatica ‘Pendula’) tree in the Park in the Garden, 1999.

A green conifer and a green maple tree stand in a green field. A forest can be seen in the background. The sky is clear blue with no clouds to be seen.

Park in the Garden, 2016.

A bright yellow conifer tree stands tall in the middle of a green field. A path passes along the left of the tree and into a forest in the distance. The sky is full of grey clouds.

Park in the Garden, 2018 (photo by Chris Earley).

A stone plaque reading o.a.c. park in the garden is displayed bottom right of the picture, close to the ground. A dirt pathway goes left of the plaque and through the field in the distance. A densely wooded forest is seen in the background.

O.A.C. ’56 Park in The Garden, 2020.

This is a sampling of some of the many photos that have been taken and people that have been a part of The Arboretum’s 50 years of operations. Do you have some photos you would like to share? Upload them to our Arboretum History Kudoboard.

The land where The Arboretum now grows has been home to plants and animals for thousands of years. It was home to Indigenous peoples before settlers arrived. We recognize the Dish with One Spoon territory, the treaty lands of the Mississaugas of the Credit, and the Between the Lakes Treaty 3 lands on which the University of Guelph and The Arboretum now sit. We are honoured to work on and care for this land.