WOOSTER, Ohio -- First came a tornado, then fall, then snow. Ohio State University’s Secrest Arboretum will hold a free public Winter Walk Feb. 28, and the focus will be both on plants and the weather. And also on the future.
“We’ll look at (plant conditions) related to what the winter has been like and also related to the tornado,” said Arboretum Program Coordinator Ken Cochran. He’ll lead the outing.
“We’ll look at the winter structure of trees, fruits that stay through winter and whether there’s any damage from animals,” he said.
“We’ll see some signs of spring as well. And we’ll talk about our plans: new trees, a new path, things we’ll be doing come springtime.”
A tornado hit the arboretum and its parent, the Ohio Agricultural Research and Development Center (OARDC), last September. About a quarter of the arboretum -- 30 out of 120 acres -- was leveled. The OARDC campus proper saw major damage. Repairs and replanting continue.
“People see the devastation and can’t believe it,” Cochran said. “But they’ve been really encouraged to see the new trees and the trees that survived.
“It’s been a big shock but we’re looking ahead.”
The walk starts at 2 p.m at the arboretum’s Seaman Orientation Plaza on Williams Road, about 1.7 miles from OARDC’s main entrance, 1680 Madison Ave., Wooster. It ends at 3:30 p.m. Call 330-464-2148 for more information.
Secrest Arboretum holds plant walks and other public events throughout the year. Check the arboretum’s website, http://secrest.osu.edu/, for details. Also at the site is a link to donate to the arboretum’s tornado renewal fund.
OARDC is the research arm of Ohio State’s College of Food, Agricultural, and Environmental Sciences and is the largest university agricultural bioscience research center in the United States.
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