Building Resilience to Counter Climate Change
In 2021, the Arboretum took a major step toward preserving the living collections in the face of climate-induced drought by bringing automated, emergency irrigation systems to nearly 50 acres of collections on Bussey Hill and along Centre Street—an area home to more than 6,500 accessioned plants. In 2022, planning, design, and permitting work was completed for the second phase of this comprehensive plan, which will protect more than 2,700 accessioned plants growing over 60 acres of landscape on Peters Hill—a region historically difficult to hydrate manually. All of this progress to safeguard our valued plants has been made possible exclusively through donor support. Image: Contract irrigation specialists and Arboretum staff work together to install a mainline through the oak collection on Bussey Hill, photo by Danny Schissler.