Long before most swap their swim suits for sweaters, the LSU Burden Museum and Gardens begins work on a fall tradition as hotly anticipated as pumpkin spice lattes — the corn maze.
Research associate and farm manager Keith Lewis kicks off designing the maze in July, sticking to a Louisiana or LSU theme. This year, the almost four-acre plot features a huge Brown Pelican and the words “LSU AgCenter Botanic Gardens.”
“This is our fifth year, and this is the third year that we’ve really put a lot of effort into the design,” said LSU AgCenter Botanic Gardens Director Jeff Kuehny. “We had a drone come out and take photos of it from overhead, and that turned out really great.”
The process is a long one, Kuehny said. Burden employees plant the corn in August, and after Lewis finishes with the design, an outside company plots the maze’s GPS coordinates.
Unlike some of the larger corn mazes around the country with GPS-guided tractors, Kuehny said Burden takes a more old-fashioned approach.
“We are probably a little less technical than some of the bigger mazes, in that we simply have somebody with a handheld GPS unit in their hand that goes in front of the lawn mower and guides them on how to cut the shape,” Kuehny said. “Ours is on a much smaller scale.”
The cutting started in September and finished before families began arriving the first weekend in October.
But the corn maze is a small fraction of the 440-acre rural life complex in the heart of Baton Rouge.
Kuehny said Burden started hosting the maze to draw people to the Botanic Gardens, LSU Rural Life Museum and other exhibits at the site.
“It’s so close to an urban area. We want people to have fun learning about agriculture,” Kuehny said. “It is also a fundraising event for our friends group, the Burden Horticulture Society, and they help support the different educational programs we have out here for the community.”
The Botanic Gardens at Burden are an LSU AgCenter research station that conducts small plot research and community outreach and education through annual events.
Burden will host a night maze on Halloween along with a bonfire, petting zoo and pumpkin painting. There is also a hay ride and a hay mountain in the middle of the corn maze for small children to climb, Kuehny said.
“It’s a lot of work, and it’s also a lot of fun,” Kuehny said. “We decided this would be a good opportunity for us and for the community.”

Gallery • 14 Photos

Emily Brauner

Young children pose for photos during a family friendly Corn Maze, hosted by LSU AgCenter Botanic Gardens, on Saturday, Oct. 24, 2015 at the LSU Burden Museum & Gardens.