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Research, Teaching, and Extension
Activities at Lyle E. Littlefield Ornamentals Trial Garden & Roger Clapp
Greenhouses
The University of Maine’s
Horticultural Research Facilities, Orono, Maine
History of Roger Clapp
Greenhouses & Lyle E. Littlefield Ornamentals Trial Garden
 The
first greenhouse was built in 1924 as a floriculture lab. The second greenhouse
and brick building followed in 1928. The greenhouse housed ground beds for
vegetables. The brick building contained research lab and classroom space,
office space and caretakers quarters. Since 1980 the building has housed
classroom, lab, and office space. Greenhouse three was built by the Maine
Agricultural Experiment Station in 1932 for experiments in plant breeding,
physiology and pathology. Extensive renovations were undertaken in 1977. In 1980
they were renamed and dedicated to Roger Clapp, Professor of Horticulture and
Landscape Design.
The Ornamentals Trial Garden was founded in the early 1960s by Lyle E.
Littlefield, then Professor of Horticulture, for the research, teaching, and
demonstration of a wide range of activities involving landscape ornamental
plants. Starting in 1989, a major redesign and renovation of the Garden was
begun and much of the space has been redesigned. Enhancement of the native woody
plant collection began in 2000 with the planting of 42 native plant species,
donated by Green Industry businesses across New England.
 Current
Information
The three glass units that make up the Roger Clapp Greenhouses of The University
of Maine provide approximately 15,000 sq-ft of growing space. They are
compartmentalized in seven individual houses. Approximately 20% of the
greenhouse space holds the permanent collection of plant material that is used
as a learning resource and viewed by the public during tours. The remaining 80%
is used for research and teaching purposes. The approximately 7.5-acre trial
gardens, also located on the University of Maine campus, have nearly 4,000
plantings, with an extensive collection of cold-hardy landscape plants.
Research, Teaching, & Extension Activities
Research at the garden focuses on
container and field crop production, propagation, and plant culture; as well as
a turfgrass evaluation program which is evaluating the potential of turfgrass
varieties for use in Maine. Recent projects include selection of improved forms
of bunchberry and Japanese maple; cold-hardiness of mountain laurel, magnolia,
and Japanese maple; woody landscape plant cold-hardiness rating; and performance
evaluation of fescue, perennial rye, and bluegrass cultivars. The facility has
given students many opportunities to gain valuable experience in designing,
construction, and maintenance of landscape spaces. Students in the Landscape
Horticulture Program created walking trails, identified native pollinating
insects, and studied the ecology of the pond as an amphibian breeding site.
The Greenhouses are providing
space for research projects in horticulture, sustainable agriculture, forest
ecosystems science, and entomology. Most of the space in the greenhouses is used
for growing seedlings and vegetatively propagated plants for research. Space has
also been used for drying forest soil samples, studying pollinating insects, and
growing ornamentals for horticultural course work.
Directions
I-95 to Exit 191, (North) take a right onto Kelley Rd. or (South) take a left onto Kelley Rd. At
the traffic light take a left towards Orono. At the first light after the
bridge take a left onto College Ave., and then a right onto The University of
Maine, Munson Rd. Turn right onto Sebago Rd., then right onto Grove St. Ext.
for Roger Clapp Greenhouse, or continue to follow Sebago Rd. for the Garden.
Turn right onto Belgrade Rd. at the stop sign, veering left where the road
splits. At the stop sign turn left onto Rangeley Rd. Follow Rangeley Rd. to
the Lyle E. Littlefield Ornamentals Trial Garden on the right.
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