Olds College, Botanic Gardens & Constructed Wetlands

Canada, Canada

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Olds College Botanic Gardens & Constructed Wetlands is a 25-acre public botanical garden and wetland complex located on the Olds College campus in Olds, Alberta, Canada, about 100 kilometers northwest of Calgary, and it serves as both an educational resource for the college's horticulture programs and a demonstration site for sustainable environmental practices.

Spread over three phases and encompassing 19 ponds connected by a 1.3-kilometer pathway system, the facility features more than 20 specialty gardens and collections in its Central Gardens covering 5 acres (including a Rose Garden, Perennial Border, Monocot Bed, herb garden, and collections of hardy peonies, lilies, and roses), along with 12,000 annuals planted each season plus native plants, native grasses, perennials, wetland plants, flowering trees, shrubs, aquatics, and crabapple allées across the entire site.

The Constructed Wetlands portion, which spans 15 acres, serves as a model demonstrating how wetlands can reduce negative environmental impacts and address the growing demand for clean water, featuring polishing ponds, natural ponds, research areas, Pheasants Forever Central Parkland, a gazebo on Celebration Hill, fescue meadows, an amphitheatre, four-season commons, an arboretum, a heritage barn, and woodland walks.