Idea Garden

The Champaign County Master Gardeners (CCMG) of University of Illinois Extension design, plant and maintain the Idea Garden at the University of Illinois Arboretum at Urbana, Illinois. The garden is located on south Lincoln Avenue, just south of the corner of Florida and Lincoln. Presently the garden is over 15,000 square feet of planted space. Since its beginning in 1997 the garden was conceived as an educational tool to promote environmentally responsible gardening practices, to demonstrate ideas of garden planning and maintenance, to encourage novice and experienced gardeners to experiment with new plants and techniques, as a site for public workshops and to provide continuing education opportunities for the CCMG. To support the Idea Garden programs, the CCMG depend on gifts and donations from individuals and businesses, the proceeds from the annual CCMG Garden Walk, and the many hours of volunteer work by the CCMG and friends.

The Idea Garden offers something new and exciting every year. A committee of CCMG develops the designs. Plants for the garden are propagated by the CCMG from seeds and cuttings, purchased locally or ordered from catalogs.

The Borders

On all four sides of the garden, outside of the fence, is the "mixed border," a combination of shrubs, grasses, perennials, and annuals, both unusual and common. The planting compositions are an intriguing use of color, shape, texture, and all-season interest.

The Sensory Garden

This area of the garden is designed to appeal to the five senses: sight, scent, taste, touch and sound. The paths are 5 feet wide with "shorelines" of brick edging, designed to allow easy wheelchair space and to facilitate use of a cane to determine the path's boundaries. Some of the plantings offering interesting scents, tastes, and/or textures are marked with Braille descriptions.

The Vegetable Garden

Luscious vegetables will entice you in the vegetable garden. Ever wondered how peanuts grow? The Vegetable Garden demonstrates how to grow common and unusual vegetables, and techniques in vegetable gardening such as staking, trellising and mulching. This garden answers the questions such as how potatoes grow or how rhubarb is lovely to look at as well as being the main ingredient in a delicious pie.

The Children's Garden

Wake up the child inside you in this garden of exploration and discovery for children of all ages. Explore whimsical uses of plant textures, color and sizes. Recent displays have included a seven-foot wide 3-D butterfly, a crawl-through caterpillar, a butterfly-attracting garden, plant topiaries, sundial stepping stones and a boulder garden. Every nook and cranny delights the imagination in the Children's Garden.

Special Projects

This is the main demonstration section of the garden. A three-bin compost system is on display. The waist-high garden is an example of how gardens can be modified for gardeners with specific needs. The raised beds are to inspire gardeners and offer examples of ornamental flower displays such as lavender, sun coleus, sedum, and nicotiana. In addition, there are displays of a pillar garden, a shade garden, a patterned garden, and a home culinary herb garden.

The Gazebo

In the center of the garden, the Gazebo offers a shady place to relax and contemplate the lovely view around you. The Gazebo is surrounded by window boxes spilling over with annuals and perennials. On either side of the structure are the dwarf conifers and crevice rock gardens which exhibit miniature conifers and herbaceous plants surrounded by a hand woven fence of pear tree cuttings.

The Rose Garden

The Rose Garden was designed and planted in the summer of 1998 to evaluate a variety of roses. Enjoy over 70 different rose cultivars from many different classes such as hybrid teas, floribunda, grandiflora, climbers, miniatures, polyantha and shrub.

The Berry Patch

Fresh, tasty fruit is one of the rewards of a berry patch. Even with limited space a few plants can be grown to produce both an attractive and edible landscape. The blueberry bush hedge has attractive flowers in early summer, blueberries in the summer and bright, colorful leaves in the fall. Grapes are trained on a trellis. The fruit varieties in the Berry Patch are just a small example of the possibilities for a home garden.

The Annual Color Garden

A brilliant display of color through the entire season. This lush area surrounding the shed is predominately annual flowers that bloom all summer long allowing you to see how various annuals perform for our area. This garden is designed and maintained each year by the newest class of Master Gardener Interns.

Work in Progress

The Idea Garden is always a work-in-progress. Each year new plants will be featured, gardens and flowerbeds redesigned, and new teaching points will be illustrated. The garden changes with the seasons. Master Gardeners may be found in the garden every Saturday morning during the growing season. You may find a Master Gardener at work in the garden anytime during the daylight hours, seven days a week; please come talk with us while we toil at our labor of love - gardening.

Suggestions and Comments

The Champaign County Master Gardeners thrive on your comments and on your visits to the Idea Garden. Please sign our guest book and let us know what you think of the garden.

Many Thanks

We would like to thank the many supporters of the Idea Garden. The Idea Garden is a success due to the support of area businesses, and the community and the dedication of CCMG.

For More Information

If you would like more information about the Idea Garden, the Master Gardener program or how you can help support the Idea Garden, please contact us.