The ETSU campus is home to over 140 species of trees, some newly planted and some over a century old. In order to promote public awareness of its landscape plantings, the university has designated the Johnson City campus as an arboretum, a place where trees, shrubs and herbaceous plants are cultivated for scientific and educational purposes.

The new arboretum will officially open on National Arbor Day, Friday, April 26, with an 11 a.m. ceremony in front of Sherrod Library. Guided tours will follow.

The ETSU Arborteum was created through the cooperative efforts of the university’s physical plant, the department of biological sciences and the City of Johnson City, with financial assitance from an Urban Forestry grant from the Tennesee Department of Agriculture’s Forestry Division.

Dr. Timothy Mc-Dowell, assistant professor of biological sciences and head of the arboretum project, says more than 200 tree signs have been installed, each listing the common name, genus, species and native range of the tree.

Thirty new trees were purchased through the Urban Forestry funds and donations to the ETSU Arboretum Fund to help increase species diversity on campus and to introduce visitors to useful and uncommon trees.

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