Level III

Washington University was founded in St. Louis in 1853 as the city underwent an historic period of growth. The university’s hilltop campus known today as the Danforth Campus, was established in 1900, and consists of 169 acres featuring a diverse collection of trees. Today the 5000 plus trees on campus range from well-established historical trees to newly planted, climate resilient ones. Among these in the arboretum is an American Basswood, which stands near the Chancellor’s Office and was planted at the same time as the construction of the iconic Brookings Hall in the early 1900’s. Another, a Tulip Poplar is an offspring of one of the original Tulip Poplar’s planted by George Washington, the university’s namesake, at Mount Vernon in 1785. In 2017 the East Campus Transformation Project began. This transformation of the East Campus when complete in Spring of 2021 will add 270 new trees with 35 different native and adaptive species to The Arboretum of Washington University in St. Louis trees diversity and sustainability.

The Arboretum of Washington University in St. Louis serves Danforth Campus and the St. Louis region as a living laboratory for everyone to enjoy by promoting environmental appreciation and sustainability on campus. With each tree planted in the arboretum, Washington University becomes more integrated with its surrounding landscape, blending with the beautiful tree-lined neighborhood streets and nearby Forest Park.

Our Prague Botanical Garden was founded in 1969. The outdoor expositions have the area of 2700 acres. There are 6540 trees, including tropical ones. For the curator of woody plants of the temperate climate priority collections are, for example, a whole group of conifers. From deciduous trees then the genera Hydrangea, Syringa, Forsythia or Acer. The outdoor expositions are divided into several parts, such as the Ornamental Garden, Geographical areas, Mexican desert and a collection of selected tree species in complete compositions (e.g. Paeonia, Magnolia). From the Geographical areas, priority is given to the following: Mediterranean, North America, China, Indonesia, the Malay Peninsula, Borneo, Philippines, Madagascar, Amazon, the Andes, the Guiana shield, Central America, South Africa, Macaronesia, flora from Prague, Bohemia and Moravia (with emphasis on endemic species).

Founded in 1898, the Botanic Garden of the City of Buenos Aires "Carlos Thays" was orginally designed by French architect and landscape designer, Charles Thays. Many of the living trees were part of the orginal design. The gardens include over 100 native tree species, as well as exotic trees. 

Founded in 1868, Chicago’s Lincoln Park Zoo is simultaneously one of the oldest and one of the most modern zoos in America. It is also the nation’s only privately-managed free zoo. The zoo’s landscape has transformed over the past 150 years amidst a historic oak canopy which pre-dates the founding of Chicago. Today, Lincoln Park Zoo welcomes over 3.6 million visitors to 49 acres gardens comprised of formal landscapes, animal habitats, and prairie themed gardens at Nature Boardwalk.

The gardens contain over 1,200 different types of plants with a strong presence of North American native hydrangea, ninebark, and perennial herbaceous hibiscus. Plants are vital to all life, and the arboretum at Lincoln Park Zoo raises awareness of plants in our ecosystems, supporting our vision to inspire communities to create environments where wildlife will thrive in our urbanizing world.

Pruhonice Botanic Garden is part of Institute of Botany, Czech Academy of Sciences and it is included into visitor’s tour around famous Pruhonice Park. The Park is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and Czech National Historic Landmark.

Entrance to the garden is from Pruhonice Park and part of the walking routes system. The garden is open to the public May - September during staff working hours and on weekends. The garden serves as an exhibition area; open air exhibitions regard to landscape preservation, gene-pool conservation or botanical research.

Unique in Switzerland, the National Arboretum is a vast park featuring collections of tree and shrub species and varieties from every continent that can be acclimatized in our region. The Arboretum pursues a scientific, educational and recreational objective: to promote knowledge and appreciation of trees. Created in 1968, the Arboretum covers an area of some 120 ha, within an agricultural and forestry perimeter of around 200 ha.

It is crossed from north to south by the Aubonne, a torrential river that rises at the foot of the Jura mountains, southeast of Bière. It is fed by two tributaries, the Toleure and the Sandoleyre. Its lowest point is at an altitude of 500m, while the highest reaches 670m. The Arboretum's orientation, from the Jura to Lake Geneva, is highly favorable to vegetation. The valley carved out by the Aubonne is a zone of instability with a varied relief. As a result, exposures are diverse and favorable to the introduction of a large number of woody plant species.

Its collections bring together over 4000 species and varieties of trees and shrubs from all temperate zones of the globe. They are grouped by species and arranged in groves, highlighting shapes and colors according to their climatic and edaphic requirements, while taking into account their integration into the natural environment.

In addition to its collections of woody plant species, the Arboretum also includes the pomology sector, with its "orchards of yesteryear" featuring ancient fruit varieties, wild roses (rosehips) and reconstructions of forests in the north-western United States and Japan.

The United States Capitol Grounds and Arboretum is a jurisdiction of the Architect of the Capitol.  The grounds of the U.S. Capitol were designed by Frederick Law Olmsted (1822-1903), who planned the expansion and landscaping of the area that was performed from 1874 to 1892.  In describing his plan for the Capitol Grounds, Olmsted noted that "the ground is in design part of the U.S. Capitol, but in all respects subsidiary to the central structure." Therefore, he was careful not to group trees or other landscape features in any way that would distract the viewer from the U.S. Capitol Building.

There are currently about 1,200 trees surrounding the immediate Capitol Building on Capitol Square and more than 4,300 trees throughout the entire 286-acre Capitol Grounds.  Forty-five of the trees planted during Olmsted's original design remain today.  Many of the trees on the Capitol Grounds have historic or memorial associations. A number commemorate members of Congress and other notable citizens, national organizations, states, and special events. Further information may be found at this link.

Draves Arboretum started out as a small plant collection by a third generation arborist after desiring better plant identification materials than was available in the northeast. As the collection enlarged via contributions and selections from a well-connected web of nurserymen and plant propagaters, it has obtained plants of pure origin that are seldom seen anywhere else in the United States. For example it harbors Rhododendron mucronulatum grown from seed collected in Korea, a new species of Hamamelis ovalis only recently was identified and cultivated, and the first cuttings of the newly discovered Parotia subaequalis from China. In addition, the arboretum has produced its own unique introductions such as the Streetkeeper Honeylocust (Gleditsia triacanthos 'draves') among others.

 The arboretum has developed into an extensive collection of unique and trees and shrubs and is well known and available to fellow arborists, horticulturalists and plantsmen as a site to view most any tree or shrub adapted to western New York type climatic zones. It has progressively enlarged and has become a regional learning station for the public and all people in the green industry. Draves Arboretum is also a valuable tool for clients to see first-hand what the plants would look like in their landscapes.

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