The USNA was established for scientific research and education, and to display plants which 'conserve and enhance the environment'. The character is woodland and there a number of gardens with different designs. The oldest collection in the arboretum is on Azalea Hill. In the center of the arboretum is a composition of sandstone columns (from the old east portico of the Capitol) by Russell Page (a British garden designer and author of a popular book on The Education of a Gardener). There is also a garden of ferns and prarie plants by Wolfgang Oehme and James van Sweden (authors of a book on Gardening with Nature). The Dwarf Conifer Garden was the work of William Gotelli