Garden Center Listing?

STill don't understand why parks and arboreta are in the same headings... and why there are separate headings for public gardens and arboreta (what is the difference?). I had entered a lot of arboreta under public gardens, since that's what they are, before you had added arboreta to parks, which are NOT necessarily arboreta.. too much 'tweaking' if you ask me.

Palmbob, you may be right - and in time, we may choose to merge them. But it's much easier to blend two categories together than to go through and subdivide a category later ;o)

I vehemently disagree that "Arboreta" should be listed with "Parks." I think palmbob is abolutely right, they belong with botanical gardens. Both should either be listed under "Public Gardens" or, preferably, as "Botanical Gardens and Arboreta." Arboreta are in NO WAY the same as regional parks or any other kind of park. They are specialized enough that they could at some point be changed to a "botanical garden" with little change in their mission. For example, the San Francisco Botanical Garden was, until recently, called Strybing Arboretum. In addition, the American Public Gardens Association (APGA) recognizes arboreta as "public gardens," not "parks." Scroll down here http://www.aabga.org/Custom/GardenSearch.aspx to see the APGA's definitions of various types of "public gardens." Maybe these are the only ones which should be under "Public Gardens"?

Here are some definitions of "arboretum":

National Gardening Association: A place in which trees and shrubs, especially rare ones, are cultivated for scientific or other purposes; a BOTANICAL tree garden. (Emphasis added.)

American Heritage Dictionary: A place where an extensive variety of woody plants are cultivated for scientific, educational, and ornamental purposes.

Merriam-Webster Dictionary: A place where trees, shrubs, and herbaceous plants are cultivated for scientific and educational purposes .

The U.S. National Arboretum in Washington, D.C., operated by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, occupies 415 acres on the west bank of the Anacostia River. Among the more than 7,000 kinds of plants are special collections of camellias, hollies, apple trees, and slow-growing conifers. The arboretum was established in 1937. This sounds like a botanical garden, doesn't it?

The L.A. Arboretum is officially called "The Los Angeles County Arboretum and Botanical Garden," and is defined as follows: The Arboretum is a 127- acre botanical garden and historical site jointly operated by the Los Angeles Arboretum Foundation and the Los Angeles County Department of Parks and Recreation. Is it supposed to be listed twice, once under Public Gardens and once under Parks and Arboreta? Again, this sounds like a botanical garden, doesn't it?

Based on the above information and examples, I believe botanical gardens and arboreta should be in the same category with each other but separate from "Public Gardens." Although they're open to the public, they're certainly far and above any other kind of public garden, regional park, nature preserve, display garden, zoo, or any other type of "garden" in existence. I also think hiking trails belong with parks and nature preserves belong with public gardens.

Marilyn

This message was edited Dec 17, 2006 11:29 AM

The US has a Botanic Garden, it's separate from the US National Arboretum, and Longwood "Gardens" could easily be called all three, arboretum, botanic garden, and public garden

This message was edited Dec 17, 2006 2:15 PM

Changing a category's name is now very simple, and a listing can have more than one category, so we have the flexibility to change the categories as this feature grows and begins to take shape.

Where we really need energy and effort focused is on adding the local attractions themselves, and providing comments for them once they're listed. Please don't let any misgivings about the current category titles stop you from submitting the gardens and garden centers in your areas. List them under the categories that seem most appropriate, and know that we have the ability to easily adapt and change in the future ;o)

Longwood Gardens defines itself as a "horticultural display garden." By this definition it is neither a botanical garden nor an arboretum, since they do not cultivate for scientific purposes (arboreta) nor are the plants scientifically ordered and maintained (botanical gardens). But they most certainly belong under "Public Gardens." Here is the APGA's definition of display gardens: "Display gardens, implicit focus on the design and maintenance of a variety of plants chosen for their aesthetic value, for horticultural displays open to the public."

This message was edited Dec 17, 2006 11:33 AM

Longwood is listed as a public garden: http://davesgarden.com/go/view/874/

Yes, I know. I was responding to claypa's post.

Terry, is there a way you can make a major broadcast to everyone, asking them to enter the local sites in their area, in the forum you are building (so well)?

FlowrLady, I put sticky notes in every regional forum, hoping that would be the best way to reach most users. It's been a little slow to start, but I'm guessing the holidays are (understandably) taking up a lot of our members' free time these days ;o)

Good job! What more can you do that that? This is an excellent feature that y'all are building for us.

I just added 2 entries in my area. When I go to find them they are not there.

I would try again in a bit and see if they're there--I had a weird thing happen when I added something, then later went back and it wasn't there, but then it reappeared. And I think I remember someone else posting something similar. So they're probably in there and will turn up in a bit!

berrygirl, which two did you add?

Coopers Xmas Tree Farm and Conrads Garden center. When I go in to search within my zip code- 30517- they are not listed. But..... I did find them later by name, though.


Is it essential to do the lat/long? Im afraid I dont know how.

This message was edited Dec 19, 2006 9:00 PM

If you don't have the lat and longitude in there that's probably why they don't turn up on the zip code search, I think that search uses the lat and long to figure out what's close to what.

That's correct, if you don't enter the lat/lon it won't show up in a Location search until they are added (which happens usually each night automatically)

dave

Thanks all! Now if I could figure out how to find the lat/long thru GoogleMaps, I'll go back and edit mine.

They're both there now - I searched using ZIP 30517: http://davesgarden.com/go/advanced.php?zip=30517

Thanks Terry!

I was wondering who was going behind me and adding the lat/long- LOL!! I'm sure my pea brain will figure it out soon.

Would you please give us instructions on exactly how to find the latitude and longitude? I've tried. Some pop up if you input the name + latitude + longitude but some don't. I'm really sorry I can't figure this out on my own.

There's a little tutorial you can click on where you enter the location information... basically you get the location in the google map, switch it to satellite view, and copy the web address

Confession: Unless I know the business or park well enough to spot it on the satellite map, I skip that part of the process.

I have found a couple ways to make the lat/long Google search more efficient.

First, Google for the company's name and city and state (e.g.: "Joe's Nursery, Smithville ST")

Many businesses and orgs have put themselves on the map with Google so when you search for them and include city/state, a map will pop up, with their name and address beside it. You can enlarge the map, click on "link to to this page" and copy the URL into the entry you're creating for them in Go Gardening.

If a map doesn't pop up when you run a Google web search, it becomes a little harder to find them, but usually one of these will get a map:

1) If they have a website, Google for them and switch to "maps" (the link is just above the text box where you entered their name.)

2) Sometimes Googling for their address + city + state will do the trick.

3) Google (web search) for their phone number. A map link may appear beside it, or you can switch to "map" search if it comes up as a valid phone listing at the top of your search results.

4) If none of those works, try using Google maps to locate the city+state only. Then add the street name. Then add the street number or company name. Eventually some combination will hit with Google.

If these fail, or you don't have the patience to keep trying, please leave it blank (better than adding it wrong). The system (or I) will come along and happily help you complete the entry with the lat/long info.

Thanks for the tips, Terry.

Do the coordinates for lat/long come from the very centre of the screen when you hit 'link to this page' in Google maps?

The reason I'm asking is because in a couple of instances the message came up "satellite image is not available for this zoom level" and I have to zoom out one level. If I know the nursery I'm locating is as close to the centre of the screen as possible, is this acceptable to get the correct lat/long? Or is it best to skip those ones?

Sandy

As far as I can tell, the lat/long come from the center of the page. (I've also bumped into the zoom-out issue, and I am hoping/guessing that the center of the map is close enough ;o)

'kay, thanks!

The U.S. National Arboretum isn't listed with the "parks and arboreta", it's listed under public gardens - maybe it could be listed under both?

Good suggestion - it's been added to both categories!