ETSU will declare the Johnson City campus an arboretum on National Arbor Day, April 26, in a ceremony at Borchuck Plaza in front of Sherrod Library with assistance from a grant from the Tennessee Department of Agriculture’s Forestry Division and the efforts of several community members and Johnson City.
The ceremony will begin at 11 a.m. with guest speakers, the handing out of 300 tree seedlings for people to plant at home and guided tours of the labeled trees on campus.
An arboretum is an environment for trees and plants to be used for scientific and educational purposes.
The Johnson City campus has over 140 tree species and as part of the arboretum project about 160 trees have been labeled said Kathleen Moore, ETSU horticulturist and Arboretum Board of Advisors member.
Students and community residents can take a self-guided tour of the labeled trees by picking up several brochures located in the department of biological sciences.
The brochures should be available in the Sherrod Library and the administration building shortly, Moore said.
In an effort to tie in multiple disciplines, Moore said the tour would include noteworthy trees and some with historical significance.
“Some trees were here before the university was established, and its just hearsay right now but we think Andrew Jackson gave a speech underneath one, ” she said. “We’re looking into that.”
Part of the grant money was used to plant new seedlings and to label the trees, but the project is not finished. If another grant is approved the arboretum will continue to expand, including giving those with disabilities a chance to enjoy the tour.
“We would like to install a touch-guard, where people can go to a specific area and recognize leaves and things through other senses such as touch,” Moore said.
“We would like to be able to put in short plants such as ones that would fit underneath power lines and maybe add more showy or flowery trees,” she said.
Moore encourages people to take the tour to realize the wealth and diversity of trees on campus.
“We have some very wonderful trees on campus, and people just take them for granted. We need to pass on that trees are a valuable resource,” she said.
Part of the aim of the arboretum is to get the community more involved with ETSU and to make the campus more appealing to prospective students, Moore said.
“Basically we want to make the campus an outdoor classroom for the entire community,” she said.
Moore is involved in other projects to help beautify the campus and attract students as well.
“I would like to encourage the development of an outdoor green space which would be an ideal place to gather,” she said. “Just so people can recreate and have fun.”
Another project she is working on is an ETSU/University of Tennessee trial garden located just in front of Brooks Gym. The University of Tennessee at Knoxville sends plants, which are mostly annuals, to be planted in the garden. ETSU then gathers research about the plants’ growth in this area and sends it back to UT, Moore said.
“It’s an excellent place just to come and hang out,” she said. “Summer students really enjoy it.”
She said a shrub garden is also being planted near the arts and sciences building.
In addition to these projects, Moore hopes the arboretum will continue growing.
“We’ve planted 35 new trees since December and plan to keep on planting them,” she said.
Although that requires getting more funds, either through grants or private donations since ETSU has set aside no budget for the arboretum.
“When a student comes to visit a campus a major factor (on deciding where to go) is how beautiful the campus is,” she said. “If we can get people to come on campus and the campus looks pretty then maybe they’ll choose this one.”
Donations for the arboretum can be sent to the ETSU Arboretum Fund, in care of the ETSU Foundation, Box 70721, Johnson City, TN 37614.

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