A 20-acre site at Burden Center in Baton Rouge is now home to LSU AgCenter ornamental and turfgrass research and demonstration project efforts. The idea for one site for most of this research effort was conceived about 5 years ago and provides a dedicated facility for horticulture and allied department faculty to perform work to benefit Louisiana’s growing green industry.
Burden Center is a 434-acre facility located on Essen Lane at I-10 in Baton Rouge and is one of 20 research stations operated in Louisiana by the LSU AgCenter. The facility also is home to the well-known Rural Life Museum and companion Windrush Gardens. The center originally was named Burden Research Plantation and was owned by the Burden family from the mid-1800s until the early 1990s, when the final segment of land was donated to LSU. The Ornamental and Turfgrass Research and Extension Facility at Burden Center is located north of I-10 and serves as a focal point across from the Shaw Building.
The new facility at Burden Center is designed to provide information for ornamental and turfgrass professionals in Louisiana. Primarily benefiting will be wholesale nursery growers, wholesale greenhouse growers, athletic field managers, sod producers, golf course superintendents, and retail garden center managers/personnel. Cooperative efforts will be conducted with the Hammond Research Station. The Hammond Research Station traditionally has performed fruit and vegetable research, but new emphasis there will focus on green industry research for the commercial landscape industry in Louisiana.
Most site development to support the ornamental program efforts has been completed, and site development to support initiation of the turfgrass portion of the program is planned for 2005. When completed, the facility will house a 1-acre container yard, 3 acres for field nursery crop production, 2 acres for landscape plant evaluation and 5 areas dedicated for turfgrass research. Weed research plots will also be located at the facility to support the ornamental and turfgrass industries. Greenhouses, shade structures, an equipment storage building and office space are also on site.
An inaugural field day/open house was held at the new facility in 2004 and similar events are planned for several times annually. On-going research projects being conducted include:
- Earth Kind Rose Cultivar Evaluation
- Cool-season Herbaceous Plant Evaluations in the Landscape
- Warm-season Herbaceous Plant Evaluations in the Landscape
- Live Oak Pruning and Cultivar Evaluation
- Herbaceous Perennial Evaluations in the Landscape
- Daylily Cultivar and Rust Evaluation
- Greenhouse Production of Ornamental Ginger
- Specialty Cut Flower Scheduling and Postharvest
Clerodendrum Breeding, Selection and Greenhouse Production
- Weed Control in Ground Covers
- Tropical Plant (Cannas, Bananas) Evaluations in the Landscape
- Production of Shrubs as Influenced by Media Physical Properties
- Post Harvest Plant Quality Retention as Influenced by Production Practices
- Jackson and Perkins Rose Rootstock Study
An investment in these new efforts was made by the LSU AgCenter because of the ever-expanding size of the green industry in Louisiana. Over the past 20 years, the economic growth in nursery and landscape production and service sectors has increased more than any other segment of agriculture. The Louisiana Nursery and Landscape Association has provided more than $60,000 in support funds for development of this effort via a federal specialty crop research and promotion grant administered by the Louisiana Department of Agriculture and Forestry.