The Campus Heritage Garden, located near the Woman’s National Farm & Garden Visitors Center, will serve as a model for an edible landscape, while celebrating the agricultural history of the Ambler Arboretum and Ambler Campus, which was established in 1911 as the Pennsylvania School of Horticulture for Women.

Plantings will feature a new take on farming that can be achieved on a residential scale. The Northeast perimeter will feature a grove of fruit and nut-producing trees, which will provide an intimate sense of enclosure upon entering the space. Tree species will include oaks, whose acorns can be used as livestock feed, hazelnut, elderberry, or mulberry for food and medicinal crops, and Persimmon and Pear for seasonal fruit.

A central “lawn alternative” will be planted with a selection of common barley (Hordeum vulgare) and pollinator-supporting herbs, such as mountain mint (Pycnanthemum muticum) and chives (Allium schoenoprasum).

The relic cold frames of the historic headhouse will serve as a test site for perennial crops, such as asparagus, sweet potato, and raspberry, in the Temple Horticulture program’s ongoing effort to assess the best selections for our locale.