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Gardens and Collections

Within the 930-acre College landscape, there are multiple distinct gardens and natural areas. Blithewood Garden and Montgomery Place Garden are the best known, but the campus includes many additional gardens including: Woodland Garden, Chinese Garden, Native Garden, Elizabethan Knot Garden, Meditation Garden, Xeriscape Garden, Grass Garden, Shade Garden, and the Community Garden. Natural areas include: Bartlett Field, Beech Woods at Stevenson Gym, North Campus Meadow, Olin Pond and Wetland, South Woods at Montgomery Place, Tewksbury Meadow, the woods at the Reem-Kayden Center for Science and Computation, and woodland ravines campus wide.

Collections

  • Core Collections 
    Bard's living collections consist of four types:
    • Core Collections
    • Historic Sites and Collections
    • Thematic Gardens
    • Natural Areas
    The core collections are: beech, conifers, hickories, magnolia, maples, oaks, and small ornamental flowering trees.
    More about the Core Collections
  • Photo by Karl Rabe
    Plant Collections
    The collection comprises more than 2,000 trees and shrubs which include 600 unique species. Many plants are labeled with full botanical and common names. In 2008, the Arboretum started compiling its plant collections and individual specimens using the BG BASE Collection Management Software. It is currently used to locate, identify, and quantify the various taxa throughout the Arboretum. A Plant Collections Policy guides the acquisition and removal of all plant material on the Bard campus.