A Conversation About Twenty-One Trees

What does it take to build an education center at an arboretum? The answer is to start with twenty-one trees, when it’s for the Mountain Top Arboretum. Why? And what’s an arboretum? I’ll start with the definition of an arboretum. Well, it’s kind of like a zoo for trees, where many different kinds are collected and grown, for educational and scientific reasons. Each arboretum has its own rules of what kind of trees they grow. Mountain Top emphasizes native trees that grow at its challenging altitude, and sponsors many events to introduce the public to the native ecology of, yes, the mountain top area. The arboretum is tucked into Tannersville among Greene County’s Catskill mountain tops, with beautiful hiking trails and scenic views. The altitude is between 2200 and 2400 feet of elevation above sea level, and The 178 acres of the arboretum incorporate meadows, bogs and forest, all in a harsh climate that can have temperatures as low as -20 degrees Fahrenheit.  There are thirty five “native” tree species growing there, and a representation of introduced species whose presence is so established that they have historical value. Among those thirty- five species are twenty- one chosen to be incorporated in the educational center and a barn completed in 2018. While they were choosing individual trees for this project, the idea for a book came into being. The book is called “Twenty-One Trees”, and it’s a wonderful combination of essays, pictures, and history. Our own  Mountain Eagle columnists, Robert and Johanna Titus, contributed an essay describing the geology of the arboretum’s property, pointing out the connections between wood and stone that define the region. Another regional expert, Michael Kudish, presents a history of the mountain top forward from 14,000 years ago. Who knew spruce and fir migrated here once the glaciers got out of the way? Who knew the indigenous people had considerably less influence up here that along the Hudson? And that’s just the prehistoric stuff. Bogs and forests and meadows developed pretty nearly undisturbed until the early nineteenth century. Then they were very disturbed. Farmers and tanners asserted their will over the landscape in the name of progress. Dr. Kudish’s work is intense. Find his book, “The Catskill Forest: A History” to go deeper into a lifetime of research shared by this retired professor. I used the term “retired” advisedly. As far as I can tell, his work is a total commitment and hasn’t stopped.            “twenty-One Trees” continues with photo and text “biographies” of each species of tree used in the project. The final section describes the marriage of wood and stone that is built into the structure, combined with time-tested environmentally conscious methods of construction. If you’ve ever been to the arboretum, the book gives you a deeper understanding of what’s there now and what once was there. If you’ve never been, this is an appetizer. The podcast, “Nature Calls, Conversations from the Hudson Valley,” hosted Executive Director Marc Wolf in episode 37. Listen on any podcast platform or at https://ccecolumbiagreene.org/gardening/nature-calls-conversations-from-the-hudson-valley/episode-37-mountain-top-arboretum. The arboretum also has an excellent facebook page as well as a website at https://www.mtarboretum.org ,  where you can keep up with the many activities and programs available year round.