American Association of Amateur Arborists
...an awareness of these distinctions, these names, forms, colors, shapes and habits is more than an exercise in attaching labels, it is an exercise in seeing. Once we begin to see in this way, vision itself gains an added dimension: awareness breeds understanding, and understanding is the precursor to peace.
The American Association of Amateur Arborists is a small but growing group of people and organizations. Our aim is both to learn more about the trees around us, and to help others become more aware of the environment. Our origin is a normal outgrowth of the efforts of arboreta over the last two centuries.
For more than two centuries arborists, botanists and foresters have been diligent at the task of culling out the weak species, pruning the family trees, experimenting with new varieties, and crossing and re-crossing to find a better, a more beautiful, a more fruitful line. While these efforts will certainly continue, especially as we further our knowledge of genetic engineering, the successes are already well established. Each season is witness to the achievements of those professionals: the springtime Cherry Blossom festival in Washington; the orchid-like Catalpa blossoms found by the railroad tracks; the summer surprise blossoming of the Goldenrain and Chinese Scholartree; the autumn colors, found not only in the variety of Maple, Black Gums and Sweet Gums, but also in the flowering of the Witch Hazel and other species.
That the arboretum movement has been successful not only in collecting and developing new species and varieties, but also in distributing those resources, is attested to both by the ability of small botanical gardens to acquire an impressive array of unique species of trees, and also by the ability of residential developers, landscape designers and homeowners to enrich their own environments with such beauty. Arboreta and botanical gardens can justifiably claim remarkable success here, for without the participation of nursery owners, landscape architects, highway planners, developers and arborists of all sorts, the beautification of our parks, our cities and our suburbs would never have been accomplished. While some still declaim the dreary uniformity of American suburbs (perhaps in some cases rightly so), the variety of species found even in a small locale in some regions is beyond impressive: it's astonishing.
Over the last few decades it has become more and more challenging to develop programs which entice the public into the arboretum: the spread of the population, the loss of leisure time, the budgetary pressures have all been blamed. However, the direction taken by the botanical gardens is also at fault. Instead of luring the folks to the arboretum, it is time to bring the arboretum to the people.
Half the job is already done. The trees are already there. Older established neighborhoods, younger well designed suburbs, city parks and pathways already have an astounding variety of species, native and exotic. For example one small half-acre park in Baltimore City, bordered by two major thoroughfares, harbors a unique selection made 30-50 years earlier: four Chinese Scholars, Red Maple, Norway Maple, Zelkova, Green Ash, Littleleaf Linden, an Amur Corktree, and a Korean Evodia as the centerpiece. Another example; a six block neighborhood in Columbia, Maryland was mapped and found to have over 65 different species from Green Ash, Chestnut Oak and Norway Maple, to Cryptomeria, Dawn Redwood, Japanese Snowbell and Goldenrain.
What if people knew they were living in the midst of an arboretum? Does familiarity breed contempt, or does awareness breed fascination, curiosity, even understanding? In leading ArborWalks I have found most people are at first curious, then overwhelmed, and finally enthusiastic; but even better, they walk more slowly now, more aware of their environment. Once introduced to their woody hosts, many learn to see the trees for the forest - to see and to appreciate the unique individual trees, the common varieties and the exotic species.
Engendering that appreciation, that interest, that awareness is a most important challenge facing arboreta and botanical gardens. Public support will become increasingly vital in preparing next year's budget, in expanding programs in the areas of collection, research, and education. Turning the spotlight on the trees outside the arboretum, leading communities to become aware of the richness of their own environments, and at the same time illuminating the successes of the arboretum movement, are key aspects to preserving the movement itself.
There is only one requirement for membership in the American Association of Amateur Arborists: developing and publishing an ArborMap for an area with at least fifty different species of trees. Developing the ArborMap is a challenge to you own observation skills, but if you are intent on tagging trees in an area it is always useful to know what trees there are, and where they are. Publishing the ArborMap usually means making xerox copies. Send us a copy of your map and it will be published on the Web. In return you will receive a handsome certificate of membership in the American Association of Amateur Arborists.