The Fall Foliage open house will take place at the Chadwick Arboretum North Sunday. Credit: Courtesy of Anna Williamson
Chadwick Arboretum & Learning Gardens will host a Fall Foliage open house Sunday.
The open house will take place from 1 to 4 p.m. at Chadwick Arboretum North — located at 2235 Fred Taylor Dr. — featuring live tours every hour.
The event features a Buckeye Crepes food truck, a scavenger hunt, music from local bluegrass group Wry Grass Band and free apple cider, along with other educational events for the campus and Greater Columbus community.
No tickets are required for entry, but pre-registration is encouraged and can be done so on Ohio State’s website. Free parking vouchers will be given upon arrival.
Anna Williamson, program and volunteer manager of Chadwick Arboretum & Learning Gardens, said the intention of the event is to spread word of this “hidden gem” on campus and teach others about plants in the process.
“It’s a pretty special place,” Williamson said. “I hope it’s somewhere that people will discover and want to return to and bring their friends and family to.”
Williamson said there will be different educational booths showcased at the event. Green Team, a group of employees from Ohio State and the Wexner Medical Center — who work to improve health in the community through reducing carbon footprints, promoting natural resources and educating the public, according to their website — will be there to speak on recycling and sustainability.
Joe Carter, a volunteer at Chadwick Arboretum, will be behind one of the many tables at the event. He said he will focus on the arboretum’s rain garden, explaining the process of restoring soil through native plants.
“We’re hoping that we can encourage people to pick up some of these garden practices that we talk about in restoring urban soil,” Carter said.
Carter mentions the process of the rain garden over the years and brings up his experience over the 10 years of being a volunteer.
“It’s really about what we learn,” Carter mentions. “From other volunteers and staff. We’re able to take seminars through Chadwick.”
Williamson said she hopes this event opens eyes of the greater Columbus area to the greenery on Ohio State’s campus.
“I just hope people have a new found appreciation for green spaces and public gardens,” Williamson said.
