Each year, Arbor Day is a chance to celebrate trees and support the essential work of The Morton Arboretum to conserve and plant trees around the world.
Every spring, Arbor Day brings people together to plant trees, celebrate them, and learn more about all the benefits they bring to us. The Morton Arboretum has been part of this celebration since its founding in 1922 by a family with the motto “Plant trees.”
Everyone can celebrate Arbor Day. Many local communities, schools, and nonprofits hold tree plantings or other celebrations. Or let the day inspire you to do more for trees: Join volunteer efforts to encourage tree planting and tree care. Advocate for actions to improve the tree canopy in your community. Contribute to nonprofits that work for trees. Select the right tree to plant in your yard. Spread a layer of mulch around trees on your property and along your block to improve conditions for their roots. Learn more about the beauty and usefulness of trees. Make every day Arbor Day.
The Morton Arboretum is advancing tree planting and conservation across the Chicago region, throughout Illinois, and in communities around the world, working toward a greener, healthier, more beautiful world where people and trees thrive together.
In a world-renowned hub for research about trees and their ecosystems, more than 40 scientists collaborate with colleagues around the world.
The Arboretum's Chicago Region Trees Initiative inspires tree stewards throughout the Chicago area and statewide, working with communities to secure funding for tree planting and urban forestry, improve tree care, and connect people with trees where they live.
From Baja California Sur, Mexico, to Southeast Asia, the Arboretum's Global Trees Conservation Program works to protect and restore vulnerable and endangered trees through local collaboration.
Planting trees is a great way to celebrate Arbor Day. The Arboretum provides expert advice to help you be sure you are planting the right kind of tree in the right place and providing the right care for longterm growth.
The Arbor Day Plant Sale is one of the largest seasonal plant sales in the region, offering plants bred to succeed in your garden. Experts will be available to answer questions and suggest plants that will be best for your site.
Consult the Arboretum's Plant Clinic for good advice about selecting and planting trees. Trained experts provide home gardeners advice based on research and nearly a century of Arboretum experience in caring for a wide variety of trees and plants in the Midwest.
Browse the Arboretum's database of trees and plants to find those that are suitable for your site, with specific care advice to keep them healthy for years to come.
With miles of walking trails through beautiful gardens and amid stately trees, the Arboretum is a perfect place to enjoy trees and celebrate all they do for people.
The Morton Arboretum conserves more than 4,000 different kinds of trees and plants in its living collections of more than 106,000 specimens. Guests can explore different tree and plant families from around the world throughout the Arboretum grounds.
There are many ways to spend a day at The Morton Arboretum. From riding your bike on the paved roads or walking one of the 16 miles of hiking trails on the East and West Sides, you can explore the grounds your own way.
Founded in 1922 by Joy Morton, The Morton Arboretum has been working to collect, protect, and care for trees for more than a century. Morton came from a family that founded Arbor Day in Nebraska in 1872, and the family motto “Plant trees” was critical to his vision for an arboretum.
People and trees need each other to thrive together. Whether by joining a volunteer group at the Arboretum or in your community, helping to plant trees, or advocating for funding to plant trees and laws to protect them, there are many ways you can help make a real difference for the future of trees through The Morton Arboretum.
The work of The Morton Arboretum—in its glorious and varied landscapes, busy laboratories, and lively classrooms, and in communities in the Chicago region and across the world—depends on the generous support of its members and donors. Make a gift today to ensure that the Arboretum’s mission and programs will continue for generations to come.
