Arboretum History
Arboretum History
Pink flowers and green bushes run alongside either side of a dirt path which recedes into the background. Large conifer trees are seen in the background behind a wooden fence.

Gosling Wildlife Gardens – Garden 5

Header image: Garden one of the Gosling Wildlife Gardens, 2007.

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Garden Five of the Gosling Wildlife Gardens was originally known as the Small Suburban Garden. It featured annual plants and a small garden shed. Later, the annual garden was replaced with a pond and less water-dependent perennials. Garden Five is now known as the Collector’s Garden to highlight its rare plant features.

Purple pansies grow in a flowerbed. Behind them, a bush of tall pink and red flowers bloom. Behind the flower bed, there is a grass lawn and a wooden shed with two windows surrounding a door.

The Garden five shed with annuals in the foreground, 1993.

A green lawn has stepping stones to a large dirt area. A wooden fence surrounds the yard.

Replacing the Garden five annuals with perennials and a pond, 1995.

A small pond is surrounded by plants, shrubs, and trees. A wooden fence stands in the background.

Garden five pond, 2005.

A frog sits on a moss covered rock in the middle of a pond. The pond is covered with lilipads and other plant material.

The Garden five pond and one of its frog residents, 2020.

This is a sampling of some of the many photos that have been taken and people that have been a part of The Arboretum’s 50 years of operations. Do you have some photos you would like to share? Upload them to our Arboretum History Kudoboard.

The land where The Arboretum now grows has been home to plants and animals for thousands of years. It was home to Indigenous peoples before settlers arrived. We recognize the Dish with One Spoon territory, the treaty lands of the Mississaugas of the Credit, and the Between the Lakes Treaty 3 lands on which the University of Guelph and The Arboretum now sit. We are honoured to work on and care for this land.