Pastorius Park Arboretum
Established in 2024, Pastorius Park is a Level 1 ArbNet accredited arboretum. This achievement marks a significant milestone in Friends of Pastorius Park’s commitment to environmental stewardship and preservation at Pastorius Park. The Park is also now recognized as an accredited arboretum in the Morton Register of Arboreta, a database of the world’s arboreta and gardens dedicated to woody plants. As part of it’s designation, more than 200 trees and shrubs have been tagged with the name, cultivar, and planting date.
Tree Collection
The arboretum’s plant collection began in 1919, when the Olmsted Brothers submitted plans (at the request of George Woodward) to plant hemlocks, white pines, sweetgums, and honey locusts to surround what was then to be a traffic circle. In the 1930s, notable landscape designer Frederick Peck, expanded the park’s plans into what it closely resembles today. His plantings included tuliptrees, sycamores, scarlet oaks, hemlocks, and white pines.
Today many of these early plantings are now mature trees near the park borders, growing alongside an array of more than 80 different species of trees and shrubs in the park’s collection. Through this collection, Pastorius Park Arboretum seeks to provide a living museum of trees and shrubs that reflects the cultural, historical, and ecological significance of the region.
Friends of Pastorius Park continues to curate new plantings rooted in the principles of landscape architecture and inspired by the designs of Olmsted and Peck. Special thanks to Paul Meyer, retired Director of Morris Arboretum and FoPP supporter, for expertly advising succession plantings at Pastorius Park.
Self-Guided Tree Tour
Use this self-guided tour to get to know some of the notable trees in the Pastorius Park Arboretum collection.
Thank You to Our Tree Care Partners
