Peter Del Tredici, director of Living Collections of the Arnold Arboretum, will receive the 1999 Scott Garden and Horticultural Medal and Award from the Scott Arboretum on Sunday, March 28.

The event will take place as a part of the Scott Associates annual Spring Festival held at Swarthmore College in Swarthmore, Pa. Through his research, Del Tredici has helped bridge the gap between botanical sciences and horticulture and, as a teacher, he has shared his knowledge of botany and horticulture.

Since 1992, Del Tredici has been the director of Living Collections of the Arnold Arboretum. In this position, he is responsible for overseeing all aspects of planning, development, and maintenance of the Arboretum's collections, which consist of more than 17,000 plants.

Given that the primary purpose of the collections is scientific, he oversees the research conducted on these collections by Arboretum staff and scientists from other academic institutions. His own research includes the development of form in woody plants; the vegetative regeneration of gymnosperms, mainly Ginkgo and Sequoia; and the growth and physiology of plant root systems, including symbiotic nitrogen-fixation by non-leguminous trees and shrubs.

Since 1982, Del Tredici has also been the curator of the Bonsai Collection at the Arnold Arboretum. This collection is one of the most historically significant bonsai collections in North America.

Del Tredici continues to be an educator in both the horticulture and botanical fields. He is senior lecturer at the Graduate School of Design. During a one-year sabbatical, Del Tredici directed a federally funded outreach program administered by Boston Urban Gardeners to provide low-income Boston residents with the skills needed to enter the landscape industry.

The Arthur Hoyt Scott Garden and Horticultural Award was established in 1929 to recognize individuals who, in the opinion of the selection committee, have made outstanding national contributions to the science and art of gardening. The award of a medal together with $2,000 is made from time to time to an individual as an acknowledgment of "achievement of great merit, a recognition of work in creating and developing a wider interest in gardening."