The North Carolina Arboretum, situated on 434-acres within Bent Creek Experimental Forest south of Asheville and adjoining Milepost 393 of the Blue Ridge Parkway, fosters connections between people, plants, and places. Surrounded by forested coves and meandering creeks – making up one of the most botanically diverse areas in America – its focus lies in cultivating relationships between people, plants, and places.
Van Vleck Garden stands as an enduring reminder of Arboretum’s mission as a living museum, established by the Van Vleck family in 1884 as an open air living museum. Now used by non-profit groups for non-profit purposes and open free of charge 365 days annually to the public.
Howard Van Vleck studied architecture at Columbia University before leaving to pursue painting and gardening full time, specialising in hybridizing flowering rhododendrons, azaleas and broad-leaved evergreens to create what he saw as a “green oasis” for his community.
He designed both formal and informal gardens filled with unusual trees, specimen Chinese wisteria vines and various ericaceous plant species. Additionally, he developed hybridized rhododendron varieties which are now flowering throughout his garden and had never before been seen in New Jersey.
Sargent’s shrub collection quickly became one of the most beloved visitor draws and, as noted in his annual reports, was “an unfailing source of interest to all who see it.” Its linear arrangement over three acres allowed homeowners, teachers, students, plant collectors and plant lovers alike to easily navigate their way among its rhododendrons, maples, kalmias and azaleas; Sargent had planned for these shrubs to be displayed in 19 beds each ten feet wide occupying approximately 7,765 linear feet total area.
Sargent’s plan was far from final when it came to designing the Arboretum’s shrub plan; when he started his second design a year after beginning work on the first, five years had already gone by since cultivation had started in the nursery area and shrub collection had become well established in various spots throughout the Arboretum as well as being well represented in its extensive herbaria collection.
Sargent had realized, by the time of his third planting arrangement design for the Arboretum, that its extensive horticultural collection could no longer be accommodated by one section alone. He therefore revised it so as to include several subsections with their own entrances and parking lots along a new walkway which connected the azalea and rhododendron areas with those dedicated to maples.
As was typical with Sargent’s walks, this first paved path at the Arboretum was clearly marked with large arrows to enable visitors to easily follow it as it wound through multiple paths and oversaw various shrub species. Arrows shaped like different types of flowers also indicated which part of each path they would find on its journey.
