Snapshot: Hilltop Arboretum
As Peggy Davis Coates walked the winding paths of the Hilltop Arboretum, she described the idyllic foliage surrounding her, pointing and smiling.
To the left was a grand oak, deeply rooted in the Louisiana soil. To the right was a forest of towering bamboo stalks, and ahead lay a sea of yellow daisies busy with bees and butterflies.
The University’s Hilltop Arboretum, located off Highland Road between Bluebonnet Boulevard and Siegen Lane, is a captivating property, and the University’s own secret garden will soon get a facelift.
Hilltop gained approval from the LSU Board of Supervisors on Oct. 15 for the construction of a $1.43 million educational facility. Money for the addition has been saved for the past nine years, and construction will begin in 2011 pending approval from the Board of Regents.
The 2,050-square-foot facility will be the University’s first building to earn Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design, or LEED, certification, and will include a new classroom and catering kitchen for special events.
Coates, executive director of Hilltop, said the new addition will enhance the arboretum, which she said is a place to savor.
“The arboretum is a beautiful example of Louisiana trees and plants,” Coates said. “It’s a place where you can learn about them, learn about landscape design and learn about natural systems.”
Coates said Hilltop is an expansion of the traditional classroom for many campus departments like landscape architecture, forestry and environmental science.
Donated by former University postmaster Emory Smith in 1981, the grounds have preserved more than just historic plant life — they’ve captured Smith’s loving character and legacy, Coates said.
Smith, whose hand-built cabin still stands on the property, was the father of the arboretum.
The relationship between Hilltop and the University stemmed from Smith’s friendship with Dr. Robert S. “Doc” Reich, who established the University’s landscape architecture program in the 1950s.
“Doc began bringing classes, and before they knew it, it became a lab for plant material,” Coates explained. “It became institutionalized and used as a classroom.”
Gretchen Munster, animal science and technology sophomore, took advantage of Hilltop last week as she worked on a project for her landscape architecture class.
“If you are stressed, you could sit in here and chill out,”
Munster said. “[The arboretum] is something people should see at least once.”
But students and nature enthusiasts aren’t the only visitors to Hilltop.
“Nestled between two neighborhoods the way it is, it’s really a treasure for the adjoining neighborhoods,” Coates said. “I see parents come in with their children, take nature walks and bring their dogs.”
Coates said it is designed for the “community at large,” and visitors immediately connect with Hilltop’s offerings.
This connection created “Friends of Hilltop,” a community outreach group that hosts fundraising events and activities each year to help manage the property.                         
Coates said the arboretum has some funding provided by the University, but the majority of funds come from private donations that go toward operating the facility, improving the site and programming.
The arboretum also sells potted plants for a profit of about $30,000 a year.
“You can buy plants any day of the week and use the Emory Smith honor system,” Coates said. “You can come at any time, buy a plant, add 9-percent tax and leave money in the mailbox.”
The arboretum continues to follow Smith’s “honor system” today, even using the same mailbox he used when he sold plants out of his home.
“I just think it embodies the whole spirit of Hilltop,” Coates said. “You can come and enjoy nature, find interesting plants and even take some home and try them in your own backyard.”
 
Hilltop also sells honey from on-site beehives and hand-made wooden bowls from fallen trees. Hilltop also rents out the pavilion for special events and weddings.
Coates considers her position an avocation, not a job. She said the arboretum gives her purpose.
“I really think Hilltop is a real treasure, and it is too much of a hidden secret,” she said. “I don’t think there is another place like Hilltop in the entire state.”
 
—-
Contact Sydni Dunn at [email protected]