HPU Unveils Plans for Cottrell Japanese Garden at Annual Arbor Day Celebration
At 16 years in a row, HPU holds the longest current record for a North Carolina university to earn the Tree Campus Higher Education Award.
HIGH POINT, N.C., April 25, 2025 – High Point University unveiled plans for a new Japanese garden that will be built on campus thanks to a generous gift from David and Christy Cottrell during HPU’s annual Arbor Day Celebration on April 24.
Located behind Cottrell Hall, the Cottrell Japanese Garden will feature a tiered waterfall and pond, a stone terrace and a Japanese-style tea house. Walking paths will weave through the garden and offer visitors a peaceful retreat and a way to enjoy the garden’s natural beauty and tranquility.
Acclaimed landscape architect Sadafumi Uchiyama, who served as the chief curator of the Portland Japanese Garden, will design HPU’s Japanese garden. He joined HPU First Lady Mariana Qubein, who has spearheaded the efforts to grow and sustain the campus gardens and arboretum, as they spoke about the importance of having balance in life during the Arbor Day Celebration at the Cottrell Amphitheater.
Afterward, each guest in attendance was encouraged to take home a complimentary Japanese maple sapling in honor of the new Cottrell Japanese Garden.
“We are breaking ground on the Japanese garden designed by Sada Uchiyama, a garden symbolizing tranquility and balance,” Qubein said. “Nature depends on that and so do our lives. Arbor Day is a good reminder to all of us to appreciate God’s gifts surrounding us with beautiful trees that play an important role in our lives. Our plan is to foster that interest in nature and find ways to improve it.”
David and Christy Cottrell are the founders of RetailData, LLC, an international retail pricing research firm based in Richmond, Virginia. They have remained active in the HPU community since their daughter, Leah, graduated from the university in 2017.
The Mariana H. Qubein Arboretum and Botanical Gardens at HPU feature more than 30 gardens with 3,700 different plants and more than 700 varieties of trees. The arboretum and gardens feature several tree collections, including 48 varieties of redbuds, 65 varieties of dogwoods, 40 varieties of flowering apricots and 135 varieties of magnolias.
In addition to the Cottrell Japanese Garden, HPU has recently added a new memorial garden and assisted with the Department of History’s Medieval and Early Modern Physic Greenhouse, a space for interdisciplinary learning and discovery.
Hundreds of community members gathered with members of the HPU family on a rainy afternoon to celebrate Arbor Day. Emma Martone, curator of the Mariana H. Qubein Arboretum and Botanical Gardens, spoke to the audience on the topic of balance in the ecosystem and joked that there was balance in the day with rain coming after sunshine.
“The lives of the plants and animals in our ecosystem are intricately intertwined, forming a complex harmony and balance in the natural world,” Martone said. “If we look closely at how the natural world functions, we find that it can offer us a model of finding balance amidst the chaos. We can also go to nature — whether it be a forest, a garden or our own backyards — as a place to find refuge when we feel out of balance, as being outside in nature offers us so many benefits to our mental and emotional health.”
During the event, representatives from the Arbor Day Foundation presented campus leaders with the Tree Campus Higher Education Award for a 16th consecutive year. It marks the longest current streak for a North Carolina university to earn the Tree Campus Higher Education Award.
HPU’s Arbor Day Celebration was presented by Davey Tree. Price Landscaping and Pennybyrn were also sponsors.
