Montreal Botanical Garden's Arboretum

The Arboretum collection occupies a vast green space at the heart of the Jardin botanique de Montréal. It consists of approximately 6,000 specimens of trees and shrubs, accounting for close to 800 species. Over 100 genera of trees and shrubs are represented. The Arboretum occupies over half the total area of our public garden, covering 40 hectares, or the equivalent of 56 soccer fields. Moreover, notable trees punctuate the landscape of our site, from one thematic garden to another. The Arboretum for the most part contains species native to Québec, Canada and North America, but species and cultivars from around the world that tolerate our nordic climate are also found here, along with certain rare species and ancestral cultivars.

In 1936, the first trees were planted at the entrance to the Jardin and around the administration building. These specimens include Douglas firs (Pseudotsuga menziesii) and Colorado blue spruces (Picea pungens) creating a windbreak for our Reception Garden. Within our Reception Garden, one will discover remarkable specimens such as a black maple (Acer nigrum) grown from seeds, collected in the wild, by the garden's founder Brother Marie Victorin as well as a silver maple (Acer saccharinum) and a red oak (Quercus rubra) rooted in the landscape before the Jardin was founded in 1931. It was not until the late 1940s that the first collections of crabapple (Malus), mountain ash (Sorbus), plums (Prunus) and pears (Pyrus) were introduced. The Jardin's crabapple collection is beloved by visitors, especially at the end of May when the Jardin celebrates the O-hanami picnic with the Japanese community.