Enjoy this spring edition of "Dogwood Lane" that focuses on the meaning of an arboretum

Dogwood Lane

The Quarterly Journal of the Mary May Binney Wakefield Arboretum ___________________________________

Volume Five Issue 3 - Spring 2023

What is an Arboretum?

The definition of an arboretum is "a botanical garden specializing in trees." Arboreta across the globe practice scientific research, promote conservation, and engage in public outreach and education to protect and preserve trees. Mary ‘Polly’ Wakefield worked to develop her collection of woody plants for more than 40 years. As stewards of this landscape, we continue to protect her collection and bring it the public recognition it deserves. The Mary May Binney Wakefield Arboretum gained arboretum certification in in 2018, 24 years after Polly Wakefield's death. This edition of Dogwood Lane focuses on what is necessary to be a certified arboretum and the future goals of the organization.

Interpretive signage is an important feature of a certified arboretum. In 2019 interpretive panels focusing on Polly Wakefield, landscape history, building history, plant research and education were added to the landscape.

What is a Certified Arboretum and why is it Important?

There are currently 24 Arbnet-certified arboretums in Massachusetts and 2,312 worldwide. The Arbnet accreditation program is an “interactive, collaborative, international community of arboreta and tree-focused professionals.”(1) The program facilitates the sharing of knowledge and other resources to help arboreta meet their institutional goals and works to raise professional standards. Through this program arboreta are recognized at various levels of development and capacity and professionalism. Currently the Mary May Binney Wakefield Arboretum is a Class ll Certified Arboretum. In order to qualify for this level of status the arboretum must meet certain requirements.

Most workshops held at the Wakefield Arboretum focus on horticulture, however wildlife is also important. A recent birding workshop led by staff member Mathew Noiseux introduces visitors to the importance of the many birds species that thrive at the arboretum.

How is the Level of Certification Determined?

According to the Arbnet certification protocol, an arboretum must have a document, such as strategic plan, master plan, that defines the purpose of the arboretum, its audience(s), the types of plants that are to be grown to achieve that purpose and serve those audiences, provisions for the maintenance and care of the plants, and provisions for the continuing operation of the organization through time. The Mary May Binney Wakefield Arboretum is guided by a management plan created in 2012. This document is a strategic management plan that is revisited and revised every 4 years. The plan is presented to a group of advisors including landscape architects, arborists, horticulturalists, trustees and stakeholders for review and input. The plan focuses on many issues including the changing climate, Polly’s aging tree species, new plant material and educational programming.

Educational programming is an essential aspect of a certified arboretum. Arboretum director Debbie Merriam leads a workshop for Master Gardeners that focuses on the dwarf conifer collection.

Collections

Another requirement of certification is that the arboretum must have a woody plant collection with a minimum number of 100 species, varieties or cultivars of trees or woody plants that have been planted and are growing in accordance with the arboretum management plan. Plants in the arboretum's collection must be labeled in some way as to identify them taxonomically, including scientific name and cultivar if applicable, and documented so that information on their acquisition (source or origin, date of acquisition, etc.) is available for public access.

The Mary May Binney Wakefield Arboretum plant collections are driven by Polly Wakefield’s vision. She was interested in a great variety of plants from all over the world, many that have unique characteristics. She was also interested to understand how many of these plants would survive in the New England climate. We continue her work, adding and propagating a wide variety of plant material to the collection while preserving all the unique species she planted during her tenure.

The addition of plant labels to the collection provide visitors with important information about the wide variety of species at the arboretum.

The Mary May Binney Wakefield Arboretum (MMBWA) is currently home to more than 350 species, varieties or cultivars of trees or woody plants that are recorded in a data base that is publicly accessible. This work is conducted by staff members and volunteers who are constantly updating and adding new signage and plant material throughout the year. Just this past year alone, more than 50 new woody plant species were added to the collection along with 50 new plant tags. These new plants are added in accordance with the arboretum's collections policy. A collections policy describes the development and professional management of the plants in the arboretum collection. Such a policy and related practices include a rationale for holding the specific collections of the arboretum, collections inventory and record-keeping practices.

The Massachusetts Master Gardeners volunteer group provides hundreds of volunteer hours doing horticultural work at the arboretum.

One of the most important features of an arboretum is a strong public engagement dimension. MMBWA focuses many of the educational learning opportunities on the diverse plant collection. There are hands-on workshops including tree identification, plant selection, growing natives, pruning, invasive species, tree planting, seed starting and soil management. During the pandemic Wakefield staff hosted a wide variety of zoom presentations that were viewed by thousands of plant enthusiasts. The organization hosts several volunteer sessions that engage many devoted individuals, Master Gardeners and high school students interested in learning about horticulture. In addition, arboretum director, Debbie Merriam often collaborates with other organizations on educational programming. These organizations include: Friends of the Blue Hills, The American Conifer Society, the Arnold Arboretum, UMass Boston and Curry College.

Public Access

Since the addition of the arboretum sign at the end of the lane there has been increased interest by many residents from the surrounding communities about seeing the plant collection that Polly Wakefield created. Arboreta all over the country open their doors to the public to provide information about plants and build membership support. Although Wakefield has a small staff we are working hard to provide public access to the Arboretum.

Collaborating with local schools is a great opportunity to expose young audiences to the world of horticulture. Devoted and hard-working TEC (The Education Cooperative) students have been volunteering at the arboretum for 2 years.

Benefits of Being a Certified Arboretum

Work toward higher levels of professional standards once accredited.
Identify other organizations at similar or higher levels of accreditation to provide comparative benchmarks and models for further achievement.
Earn distinction in your community, university, college, or government agency.
Exert leadership and influence by serving as a model to encourage professional development in other organizations.
Identify opportunities for collaboration with other arboreta for scientific, collections, or conservation activities.

Footnote: 1. http://arbnet.org/arboretum-accreditation-program

We want to hear from you! We appreciate your feedback about our quarterly. Please let us know what research and articles you have found most interesting.

Articles written by Debbie Merriam and edited by Debbie Merriam, Mark Smith and Susan Hein. Layout by Debbie Merriam.

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