The W. J. Beal Botanical Garden was established by Professor William James Beal, and is the oldest collegiate continuously operated botanical garden in the United States. The garden began in 1873 with just a small collection of 140 species of forage grasses and clovers. As years passed, Beal kept adding seeds and plants that were native to the region that could survive the Michigan climate. By 1882, the garden occupied about one-third of an acre and contained several hundreds of native plants. By the time Beal retired from M.A.C. in 1910, the garden was around 2.1 acres and had over 2,100 species of plants.

Today, the garden is around 6 acres and contains over 5,000 species. As it was in the beginning, the garden is still an outdoor laboratory used by students and the public is welcome to enjoy the beautiful setting. Everything in the garden is labeled with the plants common name, scientific name, place of origin of the plant, and maybe additional background information. It is broken up into four main collections: Plant Families, Useful Plants, Forest Communities, and Landscape Plants.

The garden since its founding has had many names over the years. It was first known as the “Wild Garden.” Beal later referred it as the Botanical Garden. It is unknown when the garden acquired this name, but for more than half a century, the garden was called the Beal-Garfield Botanical Garden. The other person in the title refers to Charles W. Garfield. Garfield graduated from M.A.C. in 1870 and he served as garden supervisor when Beal began to plant along the Red Cedar River ravine. During the 1970s is when the name was changed to what it is today, the W. J. Beal Botanical Garden.

Along with the Beal Botanical Garden, there are several other gardens, arboretums, and nurseries on campus and the Hidden Lake Gardens located in Tipton, Michigan.