Faculty, students and visitors may have noticed the overgrown weeds in the old horticulture garden located north of the Physical Plant.

The weeds aren’t a result of neglect. They are there because the new Reiman Gardens make the old gardens obsolete. They might be converted into a new parking lot.

For 26 years, the horticulture department and the College of Agriculture have tended the perennial and annual plants that brought a splash of color to a corner of campus. But with the arrival of the new Reiman Gardens near Cyclone Stadium, the old gardens will no longer be maintained.

Loras Jaeger, director of the ISU Department of Public Safety, said plans are underway to convert at least half of the old garden into a gravel parking lot by late summer or early fall.

“The primary purpose of the new lot is to get federal and state service vehicles out of the hard surface parking lots to make more room for faculty and staff,” Jaeger said.

Linda Naeve, director of the gardens, said workers are salvaging as many plants as they can from the old horticulture gardens to replant in the Reiman Gardens.

“The Four Star Magnolias have been removed from around the herb gardens and many of the perennials have been moved to the Reiman Gardens. They are also planning to move some of the evergreens from the old garden,” Naeve said.

Naeve said workers are trying to keep the weeds mowed until the lot is dismantled.

The old gardens received financial help from the department of horticulture and from donations by alumni and community members. Naeve said the garden provided hands-on experience for horticulture students but also said that students will participate with the new Reiman Gardens.

“The garden served as a teaching tool for the department, but there are currently six or eight horticulture students working as interns at the Reiman Gardens,” Naeve said.

Jaeger said it is unclear what will be done with the other half of the old horticulture garden.