Stanley Smith Trust, Area Businesses, Beautify Landis Arboretum

ESPERANCE, NY (09/10/2007)(readMedia)-- Determined to put its best foot forward as the New York State Capital Region’s Arboretum, the Landis Arboretum recently underwent a major facelift through the beneficence of a grant through the Stanley Smith Horticultural Trust. Among its goals, the Trust supports the creation, development, preservation and maintenance of gardens accessible to the public. The grant application was filed by a volunteer and long-time friend of the Arboretum.

The funds from the Trust -- coupled with generous donations of time, equipment, and personnel from region landscaping experts such as the Brickman Group and White Birch Nursery (Schenectady, NY) -- facilitated the creation of a near-instant sampling of the extensive collections that await visitors to the 548 acre Arboretum.

The extensive installation of 110 pieces featured 41 different plant and tree varieties as well as seven replacement trees (as part of the Arboretum’s initiative to preserve the integrity of its collections).

As a result of this work, within a single vista visitors to Landis can delight in the Arboretum’s collection of oaks. Looking up the gentle slope that leads from the rustic parking area towards the popular and well-traveled Lape Trail, visitors see a spectrum of disease-resistant crabapples and a hint of the Arboretum’s wide array of notable trees – including 60 varieties of lilac, choice conifers, and an expanded magnolia collection.

Close by, stands the Arboretum’s newly unearthed Quarry Garden. The Quarry reflects more than a year of volunteer help to reveal one of the original sites from which Fred Lape gathered much of the stone used in Landis rock walls and walkways. Leveraging the $10,000 provided through the Stanley Smith Horticulture Trust, the Arboretum’s ISA Certified Arborist enlisted the goodwill and support of regional nurseries and plant care professionals to solicit living donations to extend and replenish plantings in the Quarry Garden – and added to the Arboretum’s well-established collections of Notable Trees as well.

The Landis Arboretum may well be the northern Catskill’s best-kept secret. With centuries of history and the riveting beauty inherent in the Arboretum’s world-class global collections, generations of extraordinary plantings continue to impart their secrets to its visitors.

The Arboretum is an easy and beautiful drive from anyplace within New York State's Capital Region. Landis is located 1.5 miles off scenic Route 20 is historic Esperance, NY. 518-875-6935; www.landisarboretum.org.