Planting Trees for the Next Century—And Beyond

The Chicago region is nearly 3,000 trees greener at the end of 2022, thanks to the Centennial Tree Planting Initiative marking the 100th year of The Morton Arboretum.

The first trees were planted in the spring, with more to be added in 2023. Altogether, at least 3,000 new trees will bring shade, beauty, and a better quality of life to people all over the region long into the Arboretum’s second century.

The Arboretum undertook this initiative to provide the many benefits of trees to its wider community. The seven-county Chicago region has lost millions of trees to drought, pests, and diseases over the past decade, according to the 2020 Chicago Region Tree Census, conducted by the Arboretum. In addition, the changing climate is increasing the challenges for trees and the people who live among them.

The planting initiative is entirely funded by the generous support of donors. “We started with the ambitious goal of planting 1,000 trees, and then we tripled that goal with a generous donation from Susan and Steve Baird,” said Murphy Westwood, PhD, vice president of science and conservation.

Trees have been planted in more than 35 communities so far. Arboretum volunteers and staff members have helped plant the trees, along with nearly 500 volunteers from the communities where trees were planted.

Those communities included Darien, Woodridge, Naperville, and Downers Grove Township, where a devastating tornado in June 2021 destroyed thousands of trees. Trees have also been planted from Peotone in the far southwestern suburbs to Niles and Prospect Heights in the north. Communities where trees were planted include underserved areas such as the Roseland and Chatham neighborhoods of Chicago. Future plantings will focus on areas where research shows that additional trees are needed most.

The Arboretum’s expert staff chose about 20 kinds of trees for the initiative. Some are native species, including oaks, and others are cultivated varieties developed through the Arboretum’s Daniel P. Haerther New Plant Development Program. Among them is a specially cultivated linden (Tilia ‘Zamoyskiana’ Centennial™). The linden was produced from a tree in the Arboretum’s collections that was originally obtained from the Kórnik Arboretum in Poland in 1934. This tree is rare in cultivation in the United States, including in the Chicago region.

Adding a wider range of tree species and cultivars is an important goal for the Arboretum. In many communities, most of the existing trees belong to just a few species, which may make them especially vulnerable to the changing climate or to diseases or pests such as emerald ash borer.

The Centennial Tree Planting Initiative is being coordinated by the Chicago Region Trees Initiative, a partnership led by the Arboretum that brings together more than 200 government agencies, communities, businesses, and nonprofits across the region on behalf of trees.

The centennial initiative includes not only planting the trees, but educating and empowering neighbors to make sure the trees thrive in the long term. “These trees will depend on local people for their care,” said Lydia Scott, executive director of CRTI. “Like the Arboretum, they will continue to grow strong into the new century.”