Dr. Patricia J. DeCoursey leads the arboretum tour. Columbians who live in the Bloomwood area can go for a walk on the beach – so to speak. Their treasured tract of ancient trees and a bald cypress swamp was once the shoreline of the mighty Atlantic Ocean.

Fifty years ago, W. Gordon Belser donated 10 incomparable acres to the University of South Carolina for preservation as a resource for teaching and research. USC opens the park to the public on the third Sunday of each month.

Dr. Patricia J .DeCoursey of the University faculty leads the study, research, and preservation program; she served as tour guide on the February outing.

“We depend heavily on volunteers,” she says. “This place had become an untended jungle when USC acquired it. Huge vines such as wisteria and mondo vine had run amok, strangling the old trees and blocking out the sunlight. It takes a huge amount of work to dig out and destroy great tangles of uncontrolled growth.

“We hold open house on the third Sunday of each month, and every Wednesday is a Work and Visitors Day from 8 am to 2 pm.”

The site features highly diverse properties. Two ridges across the land are sand dunes that were the Atlantic shore. The bald cypress swamp and meandering stream cross heavily–forested terrain.

As any gardener can tell you, an untended jungle can present major challenges to its keeper. Half a century after its preservation step, a lot of hard work still goes into clearing and protecting and developing the garden.

“We are allowing only native species here,” says Dr. DeCoursey. “That means we removed about 200 Southern Magnolia trees. That’s right. It is native to China, not the southern U.S. Many trees here are more than 100 feet tall, and more than 100 years old.

“We brag now about our Diamond Mine. As we dug deeply into the dunes, we discovered thousands of beautiful white, fist–sized rocks. These probably date back millions of years to the time when the Atlantic washed over them on this spot. We are carefully extracting them and using them to outline the walking trails.”

The Arboretum also now has a mini– museum, a small garden shed housing some of the interesting items unearthed on the grounds.

“Know Your Planet. Cherish Her. Keep Her Green.” Dr. DeCoursey offers this motto for everyone.

For more information, dcoursey @biol.sc.edu or University of South Carolina Department of Biological Sciences, (803) 777-4141. Volunteers and donors are welcome.