Thanks to an anonymous $1.8 million gift, Reiman Gardens will add a new garden.

Groundbreaking for the new “Town and Country Garden” is scheduled for June. It will feature garden and landscaping techniques that can be used by homeowners.

Thomas J. Mitchell, associate vice president of extension affairs for the ISU Foundation, said the donation allotted $1.2 million to be used for construction of the new garden and $600,000 for the support and maintenance of all the gardens.

Michael H. Chaplin, professor and head of the horticulture department, said the department currently is working with architects on preliminary plans.

“[The Town and Country Garden] will include a number of small specialty gardens,” he said. “The general theme is the home and what the average Iowan can do around the home.”

Chaplin said a residential-type building will be used as a backdrop for various landscapes.

“[Reiman] Gardens will eventually be developed to a full 14 acres,” he said. “Only five have been developed now, and the Town and Country Garden will add two more.”

Chaplin said Reiman Gardens is an extension of the horticulture gardens that were originally founded in 1914.

Over the years, the horticulture gardens have existed in several places on campus — from behind the power plant to beside the agronomy building and on central campus.

The gardens are used for teaching gardening and landscaping techniques. In addition, Reiman Gardens offers services to the public, including a hotline that people can call for help with problems involving plants.

Mitchell said Reiman Gardens has three major goals.

“First and foremost, the gardens are an academic teaching tool,” he said. “Second, it is a research environment. [Third] comes outreach. Because we are a land-grant institution, we want to share [the gardens] with the constituents of the state of Iowa.”

Mitchell calls the success of Reiman Gardens “amazing.”

“The original idea of creating Reiman Gardens was a visionary thought,” he said. “Four or five years ago, no one imagined they could get to their present state.

“Reiman Gardens has become not just an ISU treasure, but a state of Iowa and Midwestern treasure as well.”