Cities and Communities Can Be Arboretums Too

“We like helping people create and manage arboretums because they’re important,” says Urban Canopy Works (UCW) co-owner Jenny Gulick. “In addition to being beautiful places to visit and relax, arboretums promote the planting and protection of trees, and educate people about the importance of trees which all helps to create healthy, sustainable communities.” 

Urban Canopy Works helps cities, senior living communities, businesses, and non-profits plan and prepare to become accredited arboretums, or to reach a higher level of accreditation. We do this by conducting tree inventories, preparing management plans, and training the people who will plant the trees and provide care.

The City of Bexley, Ohio is a Level II accredited arboretum, providing a home to over 40 species of trees. Bexley also has one-of-a-kind trees that are noted for their age, beauty, and uniqueness. According to ArbNet, the arboretum accreditation program, the key feature of the Bexley Arboretum is its street trees. “This tree canopy adds to the community's beauty, creates a pedestrian friendly setting, absorbs carbon dioxide while releasing oxygen, filters pollutants, conserves water, and cools the community during hot summer days.” In addition to Bexley, ArbNet documents the U.S. cities of East Point, Georgia, Lakeland, Florida, and New Albany, Ohio as accredited arboretums. ​

Urban Canopy Works is proud to provide on-going services for the Architect of the Capitol (AOC) in Washington D.C. to maintain their accreditation for the U. S. Capitol Grounds Arboretum. The Arboretum staff manage over 4,600 trees and 9,600 shrubs in the historic, 295 acre cultural landscape. In addition to creating a strategic arboretum management plan, UCW coordinates and performs tree and shrub inventories, annual mature tree risk assessments, and tree protection and lightning systems inspections. 

Urban Canopy is also helping a senior living community and a business achieve accreditation. Ohio Living Llanfair has created an arboretum on the grounds of their senior community in Cincinnati, Ohio. This conservation conscious organization focuses on the physical, mental and spiritual well-being of their independent and assisted living residents. Being designated as an arboretum is an important element of this commitment, and UCW completed a tree inventory and then created a management plan to help them do it.

It’s no secret that arboretum accreditation on a property like Ohio Living Llanfair sets a natural stage for a high quality of life on site and within the surrounding city. The same is true for businesses. Buffalo Trace Distillery in Frankfort, Kentucky has made bourbon for over 200 years, and now they’re making a move to arboretum accreditation. According to Buffalo Trace, their team has embraced change through landscaping and seasonal plantings that compliment their treasured National Historic Landmark. Urban Canopy Works is working with the ground’s director at the distillery. Jenny Gulick says, “We’ve done a tree inventory and mature tree risk assessment, and provided tree planting and young tree maintenance training for the distillery’s grounds staff. Their tree and shrub collections include many unique species and varieties, which makes the grounds a destination of its own at the distillery.”

Urban Canopy Works would love to help you become an accredited arboretum. For more information on the levels of arboretum accreditation, go to ArbNet.org.