Located on the southeastern corner of campus, the Mildred E.
Mathias Botanical Garden is dedicated to its namesake for her
contributions to horticulture and the University of California.
 Third-year anthropology student Eric
Meadows prunes one of the 5,500 plant varieties along a
main path in the Botanical Gardens.
Mathias, a botanist at UCLA in 1947, was director of the garden
from 1956 to 1974.
Today, Volunteer Gardeners is dedicated to continuing work in
the 7.5-acre garden. What was once a handful of volunteers has
grown to nearly 35, including undergraduate and graduate students,
staff, visitors to the UCLA Medical Center and Westwood
residents.
The gardeners devote at least four hours per week to help
maintain the quality of the plant collection. In the process of
taking care of the nearly 5,000 species featured in the garden,
they also learn many aspects of horticulture and botany.
Raking fallen foliage off of the grass is only one of
Brad Vance‘s jobs as a volunteer. Joan Muench,
head coordinator of the volunteers, serves as a teacher and
overseer for all work done by the workers, from transplanting
cactus to raking paths.
Muench assigns duties that correlate both with the interest of
the volunteer and their abilities. The group of volunteers is
diverse, ranging from university undergrads to 85-year-old
retirees.
“Coming to the garden allows me time to get away from my
studies and mess with plants, and to (get) my hands dirty,”
said Andrew Tucker, a graduate student and teaching assistant in
the mathematics department.
Tucker often takes his discussions sections out to the garden a
few times a quarter to what is known as “The Nest,” an
outdoor classroom with bench seating located in the northern part
of the garden.
Fourth-year international studies student Brad
Vance contemplates his next task at the Mildred E. Mathias
Botanical Garden. Brad is one of many volunteers who help maintain
the gardens.
Other volunteers are nature enthusiasts and enjoy getting away
from the traffic of Westwood.
“Volunteering gets me out of the fast-paced L.A.
life,” said Brad Vance, a senior international development
studies student. “Here it is peaceful and the world slows
down.”
Vance said he hopes that what he learns at the garden will aid
him next fall while in the Peace Corps in Latin America.
Volunteers work on a wide range of projects, from weeding and
raking, to helping with detailing, planting, potting, pruning,
transplanting, mixing soils and controlling insects and plant
diseases. Volunteers have worked on such special projects as
seeding the Mira Hershey Hall slope with wildflowers, and the
once-a-year cleaning of the greenhouse.
The sun glares down on fifth-year art history student
Kate Shrimpton as she trims unruly branches.
“The garden is an outside interest, a break from my
academics, but it still allows me to continue learning,” said
Kate Shrimpton, a fifth-year art history student.
Like Shrimpton, some find it a great escape not only from L.A.,
but from their studies and the confinements of university
housing.
“I like spending time outdoors,” said Eric Meadows,
a third-year anthropology student and UCLA water polo player.
“One day I came to the garden and I saw the little tear-off
for interested volunteers. I called and it turned into something to
do that is relaxing once a week.”
For more information on getting involved, contact Joan Muench at
(310) 825-1260 or stop by the Lathouse Office on the north side of
the garden.