LOCAL Houston | The City Guide February 2018 | Page 40

COMMUNITY
THE ARBORETUM BLOOMS AGAIN
MASTER PLAN TAKES SHAPE
Winter at the Houston Arboretum and Nature Center brings dramatic swings in temperature, seasonal color,
magnificent birding opportunities and this year, lots of progress on their master plan.
FIRST UP: The Arboretum’s new entrance off the 610 feeder is now open to the public. This entrance
represents the completion of Phase 1 of the organization’s master plan project and provides access to a new
parking loop with 120 spaces, a network of connector trails and woodland landscape restoration. The new
entrance improves accessibility and provides a special drop-off location for the many school buses that bring
students to the Arboretum for field trips.
The 610 entrance features a large area of woodland restoration. Over time, the diversity of the Arboretum’s
woodlands has dwindled. The site is home to only about nine species of canopy trees that are present in large
numbers – trees like the loblolly pine, post oak and willow oak. Mid-understory trees are even less diverse as
the majority of this layer has been filled with a wall of invasive and native aggressive species.
The Arboretum’s objective for woodland restoration on site is to remove and control the invasive layer and
allow new plants and trees to grow and flourish. The master plan calls for increasing species diversity in this
area by planting 10 additional canopy species and 20 new mid-understory species of trees. For weeks, their
landscape team has been carefully planting these trees – numbering in the hundreds – throughout the new
parking loop and entrance.
New species like southern magnolia, red maple and flowering dogwood will increase diversity and create a
more ecologically robust site. A special seed mix with an array of native grasses and forbs has been spread
to establish a ground cover, and plugs, grown from local seed collected from the Arboretum and other nearby
prairies, will be planted in shady wet areas where seed establishment is more challenging. This effort will
restore important native plant communities, improve wildlife habitat and enhance the ecological function of
the site.
For more information, visit www.houstonarboretum.org.
42
where to live
44
future proof
46
johnson and johnson
48
the story of houston
Photo Courtesy of Houston Arboretum
40
L O C A L | 2 . 2018
2 . 2018 | L O C A L
41