
A 50-year-old living laboratory
In 1970, the first tree, an ironwood, was planted in the newly established University of Guelph Arboretum.
Today the 400-acre site is almost unrecognizable from its beginnings as farm fields anchored by woodlots planted in the early days of the Ontario Agricultural College (OAC).
Establishing an arboretum had been a dream of many OAC professors, dating back to 1939 when Prof. Leslie Hancock proposed a plan for a small arboretum near Watson Hall at the north east edge of campus.