Arboretum Fundraising Update
Those who are regular readers of the Beechwood Way know about the Echo tree tag program — a program where when someone donates $400 toward our Horticulture program, a tree is planted somewhere on the Beechwood grounds and a wooden tag with an image of Echo the Fox gets hung from its sapling branches. What Beechwood hasn’t shared is why this program was so important.
There are three important phases to building an Arboretum:
1. Replace old or sick trees. This means cutting down the trees that are dangerous to passersby or trees with diseases that can spread to other trees.
2. Diversify the tree population. Every so often a disease can run rampant in the tree community. If our grounds consist solely of a few types of trees, in one fell swoop we could lose half of the Beechwood trees. Over the past five years, Beechwood has not only been removing the sick trees but replacing them with different varieties:
- Three Flowered Maple
- Acrocona Norway Spruce
- Prairie Expedition Elm
- Jacobsen’s Pyramid Larch
- Contorted White Pine
- Maidenhair Tree
3.Identify and catalogue. Beechwood spans 160 acres, so it is no easy feat to catalogue every tree. Our horticulture crew has done a fantastic job recording the new additions, but a tree expert needs to be hired to come and identify the older trees. From there, a tree tag system can be created, giving visitors not only information about the type of tree it is, but hopefully a little history about it as well.
Here is a sample of what the tree tag info could provide:
The Tulip Tree
The tulip tree is a large, fast-growing tree, up to 35 metres tall with a trunk up to 160 centimetres in diameter. As its name suggests, the tulip tree produces beautiful yellow-green flowers that are about 5 centimetres long. They have 6 petals and are shaped like tulip flowers and bloom in the spring. Its leaves are 7 to 12 centimetres long and are straight across the top, with 4 lobes beneath. They are light green and turn yellow in the fall. The tulip tree’s bark is smooth and dark green when the tree is young, then turns brown and ridged.
Tsukumo False-cypress – Chamaecyparis pisifera Tsukumo
'Tsukumo' is a dwarf evergreen shrub that is very slow-growing and will reach only 10 inches in 10 years. Its form is rounded and flat-topped, and grows wider than tall.
The origin of the cultivar is not known with certainty, but it most likely originated in Japan well before the mid-20th century. This tree's slow rate of growth and naturally dwarf habit make it a popular subject for bonsai or planting in a rock garden or container.
Next to the pond in the rock garden, this tree was planted 24 years ago.
We placed a Beechwood coffee cup next to the tree to show its size.
