Mizzou Botanic Garden

The University of Missouri sits on1252 acres in Columbia MO and just celebrated the 25th anniversary of the entire campus being a designated botanical garden. With over 5600 inventoried trees, there are 4 designated tree trails with maps that can be downloaded on their website.

The Purdy tree collection is a Native Missouri collection located near the Life Science center. The 18 designated specialty gardens and tree canopy are open daily to the public with frequent tours provided by members of the Friends of the MIZZOU Arboretum and Botanic Garden or the 4 certified arborist on staff.

Arbor Day and educational events involving the student body and the community are held annually, along with an active Tree Tribute program. They also collaborate with the city, university extension educators and student groups like the Missouri Forestry Club.

To balance the mission of education, research, and sustainability with overall beauty of the campus we work to combine native species with more unique and different species that don’t have a potential to be invasive. The number of trees planted each year varies on both natural and storm loss and construction projects on campus.

The Landscape Services team assists in winter pruning, keeps an eye out for invasive pest and disease issues.  Species like Ash, they will select specimens to treat and preserve while removing the rest. Leaves are composted over winter and used as mulch the following season. Their urban forester performs pre and post construction site visits, specifies tree protection plans and post construction soil and nutrient applications for tree recovery. The arboretum holds a variety of impressive large specimens like Ginko, Willow Oak, Sycamore, Cotton Wood ,Sugarberry and Black Maple.