Hauck Botanic Garden

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Park Description

The eight-acre Botanic Garden is the former estate of Cornelius J. Hauck (1893-1967). An avid horticulturist, Hauck planted 900 types of trees, shrubs, and evergreens on the grounds, patented a new variety of lilac, and donated his extensive library on botany, horticulture and landscape design to the Cincinnati Historical Society. Hauck served on the Park Board for 18 years and willed the property to the city.

Cornelius J. Hauck, has been described as a "one-man urban development crew." Mr. Hauck transformed a residential area along Reading Road into a glorious garden he facetiously called "Sooty Acres." In the process, he salvaged many fine plant specimens from old estates and other areas being destroyed, giving them protection and sanctuary.

The name "Sooty Acres" came from the industrial soot and ash that collected on the plants of this garden so close to what was once an active industrial area in Deer Creek Valley (now the Gilbert Avenue and Reading Road area). The development of this green oasis was a long-term, on-going project.

It was long Mr. Hauck's plan that his horticultural garden and tree sanctuary become a public park. In 1957, the estate was donated to the Cincinnati Park Board with a life estate provision. Following Mr. Hauck's death in 1967, his wife remained in residence until her passing in November 1985.

A visitor to the Hauck Botanic Garden sees mostly original planting like the naturalized bulbs that spread springtime beauty over the garden and its Wildflower Garden. Other gardens-within-the-garden include the Frank Wilmot Memorial daylily collection, the Hosta garden, the Hobson daffodil collection and the All-American dahlia garden.

Tree and shrub collections (Mr. Hauck's original plantings) shade the paths and present visitors with an endless variety of color and texture. Visitors come to simply enjoy the leafy green shade or to study the trees. The specially fine beech collection includes such species as the American Beech, the European Weeping and Golden European Weeping Beeches, Rivers Purple Beech, Fernleaf, Golden Leaf, Tricolor, Copper, and Pyramidal Beeches. The Oak collection includes the rare Lea's Oak, a tree so scarce and difficult to breed that Mr. Hauck deeded to his Lea's Oak a life-time interest in the property on which it grows. Magnolias, azaleas (both native and imported), and native trees are also collected here. A gift from the Civic Garden Center, tags giving the scientific name, common name, and country or origin, label the trees in the Hauck Botanic Garden.

Several structures provide visitors a secluded place to sit and enjoy the view. Below the residence and its terrace patio is the "English Tea House" in the Wildflower Garden. This open shelter is a replica of a 1939 World's Fair Building. "The Patio," a small brick-paved area behind an arbor, invites people to sit and relax awhile. Old retaining walls from the various original properties create different levels of greenery throughout the park.

April and May, when the spring bulbs and flowering trees are all gloriously in bloom, are favorite times for visitors. In the summer, people come to see annuals, dayliles (early summer), and dahlias (late summer), and the many variations in texture and color in the tree foliage. Where so many trees are gathered, autumn will always be a feast of color, and in winter the snow lies undisturbed on branch and ground.

Visiting Hauck Botanic Garden :

2625 Reading Rd.
Cincinnati , OH   45206
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[ Description of the Park | Features and Facilities | Maps | Upcoming Events ]