By Rebecca Raber
Following the College's first-ever comprehensive tree assessment, a massive renewal project aimed at preserving Haverford's beloved natural resources for generations to come and keeping the campus community safe is taking shape.
Haverford College's arboretum—encompassing the campus' 400 species of trees and shrubs, a 3.5-acre Duck Pond, gardens, and wooded areas—has been a part of the College's history almost since its inception. English gardener William Carvill arrived on campus in 1834, a year after Haverford's first students, creating what would become the oldest planned college landscape in America. Care for this beloved landscape was always part of the College's mission, even if it took a devastating 1902 ice storm that almost destroyed the maple allée on College Lane to formally create a campus club (a nascent version of what is now known as the Haverford College Arboretum Association) dedicated to its preservation.
The latest chapter in the arboretum's history began last year with its first-ever comprehensive tree assessment, conducted by Rockwell Associates, which identified a number of risks to the safety of the campus community and threats to the long-term health of the College's arboreal landscape, including invasive species and a significant number of trees in deteriorating condition. Remedial steps include the pruning of 408 trees from inner campus and the Nature Trail and the removal of 406 defective, decaying, or otherwise failing ones.
