Asheville Botanical Garden, a free-entry public garden and community-supported nonprofit organization, will remain rooted at UNC Asheville for decades to come under a new 50-year ground lease.

The Garden’s previous lease, signed in 2022, was set to expire in 2032. The amended agreement stretches that timeline to 2072, giving the 14-acre native plant preserve near the University’s W.T. Weaver Boulevard entrance greater long-term security. The new agreement was approved by the UNC Asheville Board of Trustees on August 19 and the UNC Board of Governors on September 17.

“This agreement marks an exciting new chapter in the Garden’s relationship with UNC Asheville,” said Matthew B. Sprouse, partner at Sitework Studios and president of the Asheville Botanical Garden Board. “It gives us the predictability we need to make decisions that will benefit the Garden and the community for generations to come.”

That longer timeframe will help the independent nonprofit build long-term donor support and compete for grants, providing financial resources that are essential for maintenance of the Garden’s trails, bridges, buildings and other infrastructure, as well as its botanical treasures.

“We have more than 850 native plant species here, including rare or endangered plants such as Virginia meadowsweet, Ruth’s golden aster and Virginia round-leaf birch,” said Kaita Collier, executive director of Asheville Botanical Garden. “This diversity reflects more than six decades of people caring for the region’s native flora.”

The seeds for the Garden were planted in 1960, when a small group of plant enthusiasts began rescuing native wildflowers threatened by the region’s postwar development boom. They envisioned a public preserve devoted to Southern Appalachian flora and began transforming an overgrown tract owned by Asheville-Biltmore College, UNC Asheville’s predecessor.

The partnership became official in 1965, and the Garden and the University have worked closely together ever since. Donor support helps bring that partnership to life through research and hands-on learning opportunities for UNC Asheville students. The Izard Scholarship program, for example, gives undergraduates three months to pursue research or hands-on stewardship projects within the Garden. Past projects have ranged from assisting a year-long floristic inventory of the landscape to working alongside the horticulture staff to gain practical natural-lands management experience.

“These experiences allow students to pursue work that reflects their own interests while making a meaningful contribution to the Garden,” Collier said. “Their research and stewardship help us better understand and care for this remarkable place, and their enthusiasm brings joy to the Garden.”

The Garden also serves as an informal extension of campus life. Students regularly walk down the hill to study, spend time in the creek with friends or, as Collier puts it, “to simply be in nature.” Open free of charge from sunrise to sunset each day, the Garden welcomes more than 60,000 visitors annually.

UNC Asheville Chancellor Kimberly van Noort said she is eager to see how the partnership between the University and Garden continues to grow in the coming decades.

“The Garden is part of what makes UNC Asheville special,” van Noort said. “This agreement honors more than 60 years of shared history and opens the door to even more opportunities for our students, faculty and community.”