Dr. Larry Mellichamp:
(Waterfall…music playing) Dr. Larry Mellichamp:
I am the Director of the UNC Charlotte Botanical Gardens. I have been teaching here for 38
years. I will be retiring at the end of this calendar year. I’ve been involved since
the very beginning with taking care of the plants, acquiring new plants, deciding where
to plant them, directing staff on proper care and annual maintenance. I’ve dealt with
just about everything that goes on here in the Gardens. The outdoor Botanical Gardens
here were started in 1966 by a Professor Herbert Hechenbleikner. He was a Professor of Biology
here and he liked gardens and native plants. In the mid-60s, he started planting plants
on campus. He named that garden the Van Landingham Glen. It’s a seven acre garden of native
trees and it was suitable for planting things, it was not suitable for buildings. Bonnie
Cone, of course, was Acting Chancellor of the University at that time so she was right
on board with wanting to have a garden on campus. Later, we got funding from Mr. Ralph
Van Landingham after whom the Van Landingham Glen was named. In 1979, he started the Susie
Harwood Garden which is just downstream from the Van Landingham Glen. It was a three acre
parcel. The Glen was seven acres. So he started the Susie Harwood Garden as the garden of
non-native ornamental plants as well as natives but in a more semi-formal, not just a woodland
setting. The Glen was a garden of rustic paths, barely carved out of the forest, just enough
to plant some things. The Susie Harwood Garden was much more open and formal and sunny. But
taken together, they are complimentary in the types of plants they have, what they show,
visitors, seasonal aspects. They make an usually good combination of gardens.
(Waterfall…music playing) Paula Gross:
The Mellichamp Native Terrace Garden – the idea for it really began a ways back, probably
about two years back. It came out of the fact that we started an education program here
called the Certificate in Native Plant Studies. We did all kinds of things, you know, seeding
plants in the wild but talking a lot about using new plants in your landscape, using
native plants in the home garden. People would say, “Well, I know what this plant looks
like in the wild or I know what it looks like in the woods, but how am I going to use it
in my garden?” So we would kind of try to explain and we would talk about ideas. Then
we realized one day -- it was really Dr. Mellichamp that sort of realized this -- that we have
to have a garden where we show native plants and how they can be used in the home landscape.
That’s what this garden is doing is showing how it can be used in different settings in
the home landscape. Like, for instance, the brick terrace here is to mimic a little bit
of a foundation of a house so that we can plant it with the types of plants that might
be used in a foundation in a more formal look. Ed Davis:
I have not only designed the project but also have done some project management in helping
to select some qualified craftsmen for this project. As you can see, there’s a lot of
planting which we have done ourselves but then there’s also a good number what we
call hardscape features that are not plant features that are very much an important part
of the garden, showing homeowners how they might incorporate different styles into a
native plant garden or concept. (Birds chirping) In addition to style, we are also trying to
show different climates and soil conditions that may occur in the Carolinas so, again,
that we meet a lot of needs instead of just gardens that have one specific soil type so
that we can demonstrate to those homeowners how to use native plants in those specific
situations. Paula Gross:
We’re really thrilled with how it’s developing and I’m looking forward to having a Grand
Opening for the Garden in the spring. So we still have some areas to finish planting but
we are really two-thirds of the way complete with the project and look forward to sharing
it with everybody in spring. (Birds chirping)
Dr. Larry Mellichamp: We cannot find another Garden like this at
any other public garden so we think it is very special. I am proud to have it named
after me, particularly as I am retiring. Because this was an idea that I had and I’ve always
been known for promoting native plants. I’m very proud of the fact that this Garden is
going to look so beautiful and will attract that many more people who want to see native
plants and the insects that they attract. They can come here seven days a week and sit
out there and watch the web of life taking place.
(Music playing…birds chirping)