University of Delaware
Office of Public Relations
The Messenger
Vol. 5, No. 4/1996
New garden entrance honors retired professor

     An inviting brick terrace, laid in a herringbone-weave
design, has been placed at the entrance garden of the
University's Botanic Gardens (UDBG) on the south end of Townsend
Hall.
     A dedication ceremony is planned for the fall and, by next
spring, the College of Agricultural Sciences expects the terrace
to be blooming with plants and flowers.
     Blueprints for the entrance garden, formerly an under-
utilized and overlooked area of the Botanic Gardens, were
unveiled last spring.
     Gary Smith, UD associate professor of plant and soil
sciences, designed the new garden, that honors Charles Dunham,
professor emeritus, who developed the University gardens that
would later become the Botanic Gardens.
     The large, brick terrace was the first priority in the
design plans, notes James Swasey, coordinator of the Longwood
Graduate Program. "The terrace will be used as an outdoor
classroom on beautiful sunny days, and it will serve as a perfect
area for receptions and other social events," Swasey says.
     Friends of the UDBG, an organization of volunteers who help
promote and maintain the gardens, donated the proceeds of their
annual plant sale to the brick terrace project.
     In addition, Paul Foreman of Interlock Paving Co. in
Baltimore contributed labor, and Chris Ross of Oldcastle
Architectural Products Group of Balcon in Crofton, Md., donated
materials.
     Friends and former students of Dunham also helped with a
fund drive in early 1995.
     Work on the entrance garden continues with the development
of a plant list, says Swasey. The garden will feature a mix of
woody and herbaceous plants-both native and exotic species.
Plantings will take place soon.
     Donations for the garden project are still being accepted.
For more information, call Swasey at (302) 831-2517.
                                           -Margo McDonough