Arboretum News & Events

Week of March 24 Last week marked the official start to spring, and campus has begun to bloom with colors and scents of the season. Campus bloom reports share the locations of the best blooms in the WashU Arboretum. Okame and Yoshino Cherry Tree Allées Both cherry tree allées (tree lined corridors) on the Danforth […]

FRIDAY, April 4, 2025 1 p.m. to 2:30 p.m. MEET AT THE BOTTOM OF BROOKINGS STEPS Ever wonder which plants encountered in your daily life you can or cannot eat? Join Dr. Froggi VanRiper and Arboretum team member, Michael Barash, for this interactive tour highlighting edible or medicinal spring plant species that can be found […]

FRIDAY, March 28, 2025 12 p.m. to 1:30 p.m. McDonnell 362 The WashU Arboretum and Forest ReLeaf, a local nonprofit, are hosting an abridged TreeKeepers course for current students interested in learning everything there is to know about trees. This class is designed for any student with an interest in trees, regardless of experience level, […]

2024 was a year of growth, change, and opportunity for the WashU Arboretum.  The highlight for the year was WashU’s recognition as a Level III Arboretum under the ArbNet certification – a rare achievement. Currently, less than 100 arboreta in the world have a Level III or Level IV designation—fewer than 20 of those are […]

Wednesday, March 19, 2025 12:30 p.m. to 1:30 p.m. South of Fraternity Row Learn about willows, one of the most diverse species collections in the WashU Arboretum, while helping our Arboretum team set up herbivore deterrents for this year’s crop of willow sprouts.   Willow branches from last year will be woven and wrapped around […]

Cohosted with the Center for the Environment for Environmental Research & Creativity Week

Sunday, February 23, 2025 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Burning Kumquat, Wallace Drive (behind Alumni House, across from Butterfly Garden) Visit the Burning Kumquat garden between 10 a.m. and 1 p.m. on Sunday, February 23rd to witness the final stage of the maple tapping process — boiling the maple sap! Come by to enjoy the […]

Do you have an oak that you study under? A magnolia whose flowers you adore? A ginkgo you hold your nose around but still cherish? Visit the Arboretum table at the times and places below to write a letter to your favorite tree! This is the third year of the Love Letters to Trees campaign, […]

Friday, January 31, 2025 3 PM to 4:30 PM Danforth University Center (DUC), Room 248 6475 Forsyth, St. Louis, Missouri 63130 Join the WashU Arboretum for a hands-on lesson about identifying winter trees with Tyson research scientist Erin O’Connell. The event will involve a short presentation on how to identify trees based on characteristics like bark, […]

The WashU Arboretum is now welcoming design submissions from WashU students for the 2025 Arboretum token, featuring this year’s Tree of the Year, Bur Oak (Quercus macrocarpa). Design requirements: Submission Deadline: January 31, 2025 All current Washington University students, graduate and undergraduate, are welcome to submit their art for the Arboretum’s third annual Tree of the Year […]

Stan Braude, a professor of practice in biology in Arts & Sciences and the curator of the WashU arboretum, died at home Saturday, June 1, 2024, after a short illness. He was 62.

A clone of the felled tree will grow where the original stood for more than 100 years

Arboretum curator Stan Braude shares his goal for the campus landscape as well as for those who enjoy it.

Buder Center hosted planting ceremony led by Native American people

WashU has been awarded a Level 2 accreditation by the ArbNet Arboretum Accreditation Program and the Morton Arboretum for achieving standards of professional practices deemed important for arboreta and botanic gardens.

Washington University in St. Louis has again earned Tree Campus USA status from the Arbor Day Foundation for its commitment to effective urban forest management. 

An official Tree Campus USA school, university boasts 4,200 trees on 169 acres

Washington University in St. Louis has been awarded a Level 1 accreditation by the ArbNet Arboretum Accreditation Program and the Morton Arboretum for achieving standards of professional practices deemed important for arboreta and botanic gardens.

East end transformation will feature 350 new trees

WashU receives plaque designating the tree’s historical significance

A collaborative effort between students, staff and the University administration has resulted in the planned planting of 11 trees on the Hilltop Campus to mark Earth Day 2006.