Arboretum Certification

As some of you may have noticed on our social media pages, we were recently designated as a Level 1 Arboretum by the Tennessee Urban Forestry Council.

Groundskeeper John Gammon with Jim Cortese, receiving our official sign.

"Guidelines define an arboretum as an area with a significant amount of woody vegetation in tree form that is cultivated for educational, scientific or aesthetic purposes. To be certified, an arboretum must be open to the public, the trees must be properly labeled for educational purposes, and they must be properly protected and maintained during the period of certification." -TUFC guidelines 

To become an official Level 1 Arboretum, our Groundskeeper, John Gammon, had to identify at least 30 different types of trees (note: we now have over 40!).

We are also on our way to Level 2 (though it may be a few years before we try for that certification). We created a map and numbering system for the trees, which will soon be available to visitors.

Look for these labels around our property and on our trails!

We plan to offer future programming based around the arboretum, including something for Arbor Day in April.