The Ohio State University Learning Garden The Chadwick Arboretum has long had a commitment to develop a "Learning Garden" with initial funding provided by The Columbus Foundation and individual donors. We have come to see this as a distinct enterprise ecompassing all of the herbaceous plant collections that were in or were planned for the Arboretum. It is to be an outdoor laboratory for learning about constructed landscapes appropriate to the urban Midwest. As students and faculty participate in discovery, there will be opportunities for engagement with the wider community. We look to the landscape and nursery industries for input on design, plant selection, construction and maintenance. The general public can become involved as onlookers or active learners alongside our students. Online learning will be as important as activities in the garden itself. Within the Learning Garden there will be three kinds of areas: Landscape Rooms. These are areas as small as 20' by 20' representing urban garden themes and techniques. Groups of students will be asked to bid for development of these areas according to a client brief. One design will be selected for installation by the students. The rooms will be kept for up to five years. Named Gardens. These are being relocated from the Lane Avenue area. These will be permanent features of the Learning Garden, honoring the original donors and featuring interesting plant collections, particularly perennials. Trial Gardens. Already in place south of Howlett Hall and west of the greenhouses, they are used for research and demonstration of new selections of annuals, perennials and grasses. See results of the evaluations at:http://floriculture.osu.edu/trials/PageCrop1.html