This open lawn edged with magnificent trees was once a pasture, hence the name. Most impressive is a massive American elm immediately visible as you enter the Gardens from the Visitor Center; it is the sole survivor of an avenue of elms that succumbed to Dutch elm disease and has since been replaced with white oaks.  The Japanese flowering dogwoods that bloom in June are some of the most spectacular to be seen anywhere. The massive allée of copper beeches along the northern path is deep purple in spring and coppery in fall; one 40'-tall, 8,000-pound beech was flown in by helicopter in November 1998 to replace a tree destroyed by a storm!  The western edge was a magnificent, celebrated allée of princess trees that bloomed in May with spectacular upright clusters of purple flowers; the eastern half of the allée was cut down in 1998 because the trees were in decline, but it was replanted in late October 2000.  The western half of the allée was replanted in April 2001.

This open lawn edged with magnificent trees was once a pasture, hence the name. Most impressive is a massive American elm immediately visible as you enter the Gardens from the Visitor Center; it is the sole survivor of an avenue of elms that succumbed to Dutch elm disease and has since been replaced with white oaks.  The Japanese flowering dogwoods that bloom in June are some of the most spectacular to be seen anywhere. The massive allée of copper beeches along the northern path is deep purple in spring and coppery in fall; one 40'-tall, 8,000-pound beech was flown in by helicopter in November 1998 to replace a tree destroyed by a storm!  The western edge was a magnificent, celebrated allée of princess trees that bloomed in May with spectacular upright clusters of purple flowers; the eastern half of the allée was cut down in 1998 because the trees were in decline, but it was replanted in late October 2000.  The western half of the allée was replanted in April 2001.