By Forrest Adams
A doctor of philosophy in the subject of ornamental grasses and a professor of horticulture at the University of Minnesota, Mary Meyer is now the interim director at the University of Minnesota Landscape Arboretum.
The Arboretum’s 22-year director, Peter Olin, left at the beginning of July and is now at the beginning of a three-year phase out from the university. Working from his office in the St. Paul campus, he will continue to teach public arbor management classes as well as serve as a bridge for the next director. In the meantime, he assured Meyer that he is only a phone call away.
Ask her about grass and she’ll tell you. Foreign grass, native grass, ornamental grass, turf, invasive grass, grass that’s good in the shade, good in the sunshine, good in the cold weather, good in the wet weather. Types of grass have been the focus of her studies for many years.
She’s part of a small field, consisting of maybe five academics worldwide, doing research into ornamental grasses.
“Grasses are unique in that people don’t know about them. They’re fairly obscure,” she said.
A focus of hers is “sustainable landscaping.”
“The objective of my research is to understand how grasses grow, learn production methods for growers and show the public how to use these low-maintenance plants in their landscapes,” Meyer said. “The benefits of grasses [in landscapes] are the low maintenance, the fewer inputs, very low water requirements for most of them, and they look natural.”
A Pennsylvania native, she earned her master’s degree in ornamental grasses from Cornell University and then earned her doctorate in ornamental grasses from the University of Minnesota in 1993. Her doctoral studies in Minnesota began in 1987, and the Minnesota Landscape Arboretum has been part of her life since. She planted different breeds of grass and began studying their hardiness; 20 years later the grass collection that she established is one of the nation’s largest and with more than 200 different ornamental and native species.
Meyer’s vision while she’s in charge at the Arboretum is tied to her educational background.
“I think we as an Arboretum have to really look at sustainable landscapes,” she said. “We have to be aware of what we are doing here at the Arboretum and assess whether or not the maintenance practices – all our practices – are sustainable. The staff and I are very interested in looking at sustainable landscapes and in helping the public understand how they can make their own home landscapes more sustainable. That means using water most efficiently, using fertilizer, using pesticides most efficiently, putting in plants that require minimal inputs and still fulfill the needs in our landscapes.”
To this end, Meyer recommends people install native plants and grasses in their landscaping.
A book titled “Ornamental grasses for cold climates” is available in the Arboretum’s gift shop.

Readers can contact Forrest Adams at fadams@swpub.com [1].