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Master Gardeners Tour
Ohio Governor’s Residence and Heritage Garden
Prepared by Joanna Keiser Master Gardener

Did you enjoy field trips when you were in school? The Union County Master Gardeners have certainly been getting around this year on trips. On August 7, a group of Master Gardeners took part in a guided tour of the Ohio Governor’s Residence and Heritage Garden.

We were first treated to a tour of the public areas of the Residence. We viewed several rooms decorated with art works of Ohio artists and Ohio-produced products such as Heisey glass and furniture. Books of Ohio children’s authors were also displayed.

Beautiful as the residence is, we were particularly anxious to move outside to the Heritage Garden. This garden was conceived in 2000 as a way to showcase Ohio’s natural history and environment. First Lady, Hope Taft, secured the donated services of a landscape architect and garden designer who developed a master plan. The plan highlights the 5 physiographic regions of the state.

The front fence line of the grounds is home to plants from the Allegheny Plateau region of northeast Ohio. An old white pine in the front yard is the basis of a woodland wildflower garden that represents what the vast majority of Ohio first looked like when man arrived. A glaciated 16-ton boulder has been brought from a New Albany construction site, making an interesting sculpture. Meadow plants and prairie plants fill the formal beds.

A sand dune holds plants from the shores of Lake Erie that came into Ohio with the rise and fall of the bedrock of the state’s northern coast under glacial pressure. A cranberry bog fills a renovated fishpond. Unglaciated Ohio is featured in the Appalachian garden, that hosts many plants brought to the state by the ancient Teays River. Vines with southern roots cling to the house walls and pergola. They are native to the small part of the interior low plateau that has crossed the Ohio River. A formal water garden frames the patio and showcases native wetland and water plants. The vegetable garden highlights the importance of agriculture to the state. There is also a rose garden. We learned that plants such as bamboo, columbine and prickly pear cactus are native to Ohio in certain regions. Master Gardeners from each county have donated plants from their area. There is little funding and volunteers and donors are depended upon to support the garden.

The free tour is given on Tuesdays with advanced registration. To schedule a tour, call 614.644.7644. Wheel chairs, walkers and canes are welcomed.

The Master Gardener Offers horticulture advice and tips, focusing on current issues by volunteers who are with The Ohio State University Extension, Union County Master Gardener Program. For answers to gardening questions, call 937.644.8117 or e-mail gmcvey@ag.osu.edu. Hourse are 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Monday through Friday