Bayard Cutting Arboretum

Bayard Cutting Arboretum is a 691 acre New York state park situated along the Connetquot River on the south shore of Long Island. The former Westbrook estate of Mr. William Bayard Cutting, a hobby botanist and conifer enthusiast, holds a rich history of landscape design and botanical specimens dating back to the nineteenth century. Gifted to the Long Island State Park Commission in 1936 by the late Mrs. William Bayard Cutting and her daughter Olivia James, this vast land has served as an escape for all from the fast paced outside world.  Olivia James wrote that the arboretum “...shall serve to bring about a greater appreciation and understanding, on the part of both the general public and of those professionally concerned with landscape design of the value and importance of informal planting, and shall thus be an influence in preserving the amenities of our native landscape.”

The collections at Bayard Cutting Arboretum have been carefully planned throughout the years. In 1886, the architectural firm of Frederick Law Olmsted cleared out much of the heavily forested land of Westbrook estate and designed what is now Oak Park. The arboretum is most recognized by the rare and diverse conifer collections. Original conifers sourced by the Cutting family still exist today, some the largest in the region. Currently, the arboretum has over 5,000 specimens in their database. Collections at Bayard Cutting Arboretum include Oak Park, Westbrook Walled Garden, Great Lawn, Holly Walk, New and Old Pinetum, Pinetum Extension, Royce Rhododendron Garden, Breezy Island, Woodland Garden, Conifer Garden, American Conifer Society Garden, River Walk, and Community Supported Agriculture Farm.