Upper Oxford Plants First Arboretum in Western Chester County
April 22, 2025
A year ago this month Upper Oxford Township completed an ambitious project to transform a portion of a 12-acre hayfield on municipally owned land to an arboretum. The project was conceptualized by Township Supervisor Scott Rugen, who, after visiting the Elk Neck Arboretum in Maryland, was inspired to bring the concept of trails and interpretive signage about trees to Upper Oxford Township. He shared the idea with his fellow Supervisors, and they were supportive.
Rugen's next call was to the Alliance for the Chesapeake Bay, where he met staff member Ryan Davis who came out to the site to make a plan for the tree planting. While on site, Davis discovered a wetland and several unique tree species, including a few species of Hickory. Using these existing conditions as inspiration, Davis came up with a design for the arboretum that included 1,300 trees and 60+ native shrubs.
Although the trees were just seedlings at the time of planting, planting 1,300 seedlings is no small feat. The team organized a "planting marathon" — a 24-hour operation to complete the planting in one day. Rugen remembers being outside at 10 p.m. with a headlamp on and volunteers were still planting.
A year later, some of the seedlings are already peeking out of the top of their protective tree tubes. Rugen is looking forward to the day when the trees create some canopy cover. The trees and staff support were provided through a grant from the Alliance for the Chesapeake Bay, who will also maintain the tree planting for the first three years, including replacing any trees that don’t survive. After this, the Township is making a plan for how they will care for the fledgling arboretum.
The Township has a dedicated tax for open space, and they determined a portion of it can be used for maintaining the arboretum. The Township plans to add interpretive signs at a later date. The Upper Oxford Arboretum project is a great example of municipal leadership, partnership with a regional environmental initiative in the Chesapeake Bay, and creative use of municipal open space funds.