The Arboretum, University of Guelph
200 Arboretum Road N1G 2W1 Guelph, ON, Canada

Our feeders have been busy lately and the regulars (Black-capped Chickadee, White-breasted Nuthatch, and Red-breasted Nuthatch) are leaving good reviews! What feathery friends have you seen at the feeders recently?

Visit our winter wonderland!

Nothing says teamwork like some good ol’ lichen! #dyk that lichen is actually 2 organisms (a fungus and an algae or cyanobacteria) functioning as a single stable unit? The algae or cyanobacteria is able to produce carbohydrates from photosynthesis and the fungi provides protection in its filaments as well as the ability to absorb moisture and nutrients from the environment! There are so many different types of lichen and they’re all beautiful to look at!

We have planted more than 18,000 trees and shrubs in The Arboretum through our 30-year Memorial Forest partnership with Wall-Custance Funeral Home and Chapel! No matter which funeral home is used, donations can be made to this program to honour a deceased loved one. Their name is listed on a dedication plaque which is installed for our annual tree planting and dedication service in Fall. In addition, an individual tree or shrub is planted on The Arboretum's grounds. We are honoured to keep this tradition growing for our whole community. #AwesomeFactsat50 #Arbat50 photo by Richelle Forsey

Thinking of raking your leaves? Try leaving them on the ground instead! All the leaf litter here in Wild Goose Woods create an important overwintering place for insects, frogs, and other animals to hibernate the winter away. You can create the same type of habitat and attract different wildlife to your yard by simply leaving all the fallen leaves on the ground this fall...and it’s less work too!

While some birds migrate to escape the colder months, Red-tailed Hawks can tough it out in the snow and cold. This particularly handsome individual has been hanging out at The Arboretum for a while now, and we hope it continues to stick around. Even with the recent snow fall, there’s still lots of wildlife around to see!

Ruth (Harris) Robinson was one of the first women hired at The Arboretum. Ruth worked as a propagator after graduating from the Ontario Agricultural College in 1974. She managed propagation, two greenhouses, the lath-house, and the expansion of the nursery during her time at The Arboretum. Thank you for all your hard work, Ruth! #FacesofTheArb #Arbat50

Every autumn, our Arboretum staff members navigate our plant collections, gardens and restoration sites while wearing backpack sprayers. What are they up to, you might ask? Well, they're on a mission to help protect our most vulnerable young trees and shrubs from the voracious appetites of rabbits and meadow voles. With too few natural predators in urban areas due to human disturbance, high populations of these herbivores will feast on the bark at the base of our young woo...dy plants during the winter, and can quickly kill them. To help get them through their first few years, we protect these trees by applying a repellant to the base of each. Here, we're using a natural product that is a mixture of blood meal and vegetable oil. When sprayed onto the stems, it fools the little bark-eaters into believing that a predator is nearby and persuades them to go look for food elsewhere. Repellent applications are part of a toolbox that also includes physical tree wraps and guards, and both help to ensure that our trees eventually reach a size where their bark is thick enough to prevent feeding damage. When walking through the Arboretum, it's always eye-opening to remember that all our trees once started out this small! See more

The Da Vinci Arts and Science Community and Environmental Leadership Program is an experiential learning opportunity for grade 11 students to spend a semester at The Arboretum. Through this partnership with the Upper Grand District School Board, students earn credits in English, Biology, Art, and Social Sciences (Introduction to Anthropology, Sociology and Psychology). As part of learning about art and the outdoors, participants develop and lead Eco-Artists sessions for grade 4 students. Da Vinci is a great way for students to spend time outside, gain leadership experience, and get course credits! #AwesomeFactsat50 #Arbat50

Haven't registered yet for our 50th Anniversary Celebrations talk? It's free and open to the public (https://uoguel.ph/arboretumoctober18)! This exciting event will feature Dr. Saharah Moon Chapotin, the Executive Director of the United States Botanical Garden. Dr. Chapotin’s talk will address the important and increasingly urgent work of arboreta in the long term conservation of genetic biodiversity of plant species, and speak to the role arboreta play in supporting food security.

Maples and other broad-leaved trees aren’t the only ones changing colour and dropping their leaves this time of year. Larches and Dawn Redwood are both deciduous conifers, which means that they’ll be dropping their needles this fall too. Check out these beautiful species in our Conifer Collection today!

#dyk that coniferous trees like this White Pine can produce resin as a defence mechanism? Overtime, this resin may become fossilized and become amber!

Native goldenrods are awesome plants! Not only are the masses of yellow flowers a biodiversity hotspot for many different insects in the summer, but they continue to attract wildlife into the fall. Check out this nimble Black-capped Chickadee snacking on some delicious goldenrod seeds!

Did you know that this is our 50th Anniversary? How amazing is that? To kick off our virtual celebrations, check out this trailer about what makes us, us!

Check out Portico’s new article on The Arboretum’s 50th Year! Take a look back at The Arboretum’s history and hear about our goals for the future in U of G’s Living Lab. https://tinyurl.com/y6fld49k

Did you know you can travel around the world at The Arboretum? The World of Trees collection holds over 400 species of trees and shrubs from around the world! You can walk along the 0.7km trail and admire northern hemisphere woody plants including both North American species and their Eurasian counterparts. Ever seen a Cucumber Tree? What about a Bald Cypress? Maybe a Mountain Pepperbush or Hardy Rubber Tree is more your fancy? You can find these and so many more in the World of Trees! #AwesomeFactsat50 #Arbat50

If you’re still wondering about yesterday’s mystery, the gnawed tree trunk was a sign of the lovely beaver family living at The Arboretum! #DYK that beavers have an important ecological role as ecosystem engineers? Their ability to build dams and create ponds are important for forming new habitat, increasing biodiversity, storing water during droughts, and managing other water-related issues. Thanks to Kevin Morey for the wonderful photos!

In rain or shine, Victoria Woods has been looking beautiful lately! Have you walked the trails here before? Let us know in the comments below!

It’s nice that we have the strong link between trees and beavers and a healthy forest right here in The Arboretum and within the City of Guelph! This individual seems content here. The last shot shows how much bigger a beaver is compared to a muskrat!

The Gosling Wildlife Gardens were designed to demonstrate and educate about how to make urban or suburban backyards more wildlife-friendly! These gardens were initially opened in 1988 after Jean and Philip Gosling supported the project. After 32 years of growing and inspiring visitors, the Gosling Wildlife Gardens are getting a fresh new look! Thanks to a legacy gift from the Gosling Foundation, the Gosling Wildlife Gardens are undergoing a multi-year revitalization project involving updates to the themes, plant collections, ponds, and other garden features. To learn more about all of the changes we have planned for the Gosling Wildlife Gardens, visit our website: https://uoguel.ph/gcfeq. What garden are you most excited to visit?

The OAC '56 Park in the Garden is an awesome open space to hang out and enjoy nature! This week, Naturalist Interns, Kitty and Jenny, will taking you on a virtual visit to this space to explore some cool features!

It’s been fantastic seeing so many visitors at The Arboretum lately! Unfortunately, we’ve been seeing some damage along our roadsides from improper parking along the sides of the roads. We’d like to remind everyone to please park in the parking lots either by the Arboretum Centre or at the east entrance. If you’re unsure of how to reach the parking lots, there is signage directing you to the lots from the Victoria Rd entrance and a map is also available on our website. Thank you to everyone for helping us keep The Arboretum beautiful for us all to enjoy!

Are you ready for a #MondayMystery? A lovely family has been busy redecorating in the Arb- can you guess who?

College Avenue has been re-opened! That means visitors can now enter The Arboretum through the entrance there again, and parking lots are just up ahead beside the Arboretum Centre. Maps and directions are also available on our website at https://www.uoguelph.ca/arboretum/directions.

Fall may be the season for beautiful colours, but it’s also the season for mushrooms! #DYK that the mushroom is only the reproductive structure of the fungus? The rest of the fungus exists as a mass of thread-like hyphae called mycelium that stretches throughout the substrate in order to absorb nutrients from the environment. These mushrooms found in one of our forests are just a little part of the entire fungus! Remember, if you do find a mushroom, be sure to leave it where it is because The Arboretum is a non-consumptive space. Happy exploring!

There is a lot of history behind The Arboretum Centre! The Arboretum Centre's full name is the OAC Centennial Arboretum Centre to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the Ontario Agricultural College in 1974. The building was designed by architect Raymond Moriyama, a famous architectural firm located in Toronto. When the Arboretum Planning Committee requested the architects' services, they specifically requested the Centre to be built to emphasize the landscape of The Arboretum rather than the building itself. This explains why the Centre is set into the hill and features large round windows! #Arbat50 #ArbRoots

Did you know that you’re hiking #NextToHistory along the John McCrae Trail and Wild Goose Pond? Before The Arboretum was established in 1970, most of the land was used as pasture for the Ontario Agriculture College’s cattle and sheep. After The Arboretum was established, various species of shrubs and trees were planted to transform the farm landscape into habitat for new wildlife. #Arbat50

Watch out for bears in the Arb! Wooly Bears that is...this little Wooly Bear Caterpillar is on a journey to find the perfect overwintering spot! We hope that both it and you are somewhere cozy and have a lovely Thanksgiving!

Happy Halloween everyone! Today's the perfect day to show off our Nootka Cypress (Chamaecyparis nootkatensis). Nootka Cypress is an evergreen tree that's native to the Northwest coast of North America. ... Check out how the loosely hanging branches give it a ghostly appearance. We hope everyone has a safe and happy Halloween!

#ICYMI Check out Sean Fox, our Manager of Horticulture, talk all about the science of fall leaves on CBC Radio 1 at https://www.cbc.ca/amp/1.5755219!

Aptly described by the media as a dating service for lonely elms, the Elm Recovery Project was established in 1998 to survey and study mature members of Ontario’s white elm population that survived the destructive invasion of Dutch elm disease. Our horticulturists sought the help of citizen scientists to locate large, healthy elms throughout the province, and retrieved cuttings from these specimens to study their natural ability to tolerate infection from the disease. Sinc...e this time, we've been cultivating survivors in our Arboretum Gene Bank while providing the opportunity for these trees to cross pollinate and produce genetically diverse crops of seed. The Arboretum is ‘rooting’ for the white elm! #Arbat50 #LivingLaboratory Photo: Late Arboretum Horticulturist and founder of the Elm Recovery Project, Henry Kock, stands under a huge elm tree that has naturally survived the ravages of Dutch elm disease.

Fall is an absolutely beautiful time of year here in The Arboretum and everywhere! Tune in on Saturday morning at 7:15 am to CBC Radio 1 across Ontario to hear Sean Fox, our Manager of Horticulture, talk about the science of the fall colour. You don’t want to miss it!

Hi Everyone! I’m Kayley and I’m the Multimedia Assistant here at The Arboretum. I’m currently in my second year of Landscape Architecture and will be focusing my work on landscaping with woody plants. One of my favourite trees in The Arboretum is the Paper Birch (Betula papyrifera). Paper Birch stand in stark contrast to their surroundings any time of the year and are great for naturalizing the landscape. They are also one of the few deciduous species to reach the northern ...limits of North America! Do you have a favourite tree in The Arboretum?

The skies may be a bit cloudy today, but there’s still lots of sunny colour at The Arboretum!

The Arboretum has lots of fantastic habitat that acts as a home for all sorts of wildlife, though some can be easier to see than others. This Eastern Chipmunk was very friendly when it popped by to say hello! Let us know what you’ve seen lately at The Arboretum in the comments below!

ID that bird! If you guessed GrEIGHT Crested Flycatcher, you are correct! What’s with the 8? We are offering 8 virtual bird id lectures for $8 each. Or sign up for all eight and only pay for seven! Topics include gulls, sparrows, spring migrants, spring warblers, fall warblers, sandpipers, ducks and hawks. The hour-long talks are done by Chris Earley, Arboretum Interpretive Biologist and author of five bird field guides. The presentations will include a question period and will happen on Fridays at noon from Oct 23 to Dec 11. For details or to sign up go to the link tree link in our bio and choose workshops. Money raised will help support our educational activities. Photo by Karl Egressy.

Have you ever seen the Arb staff set up shop next to one of our feeders with big nets and metal cages? That's because Chris Earley, our Interpretive Biologist Extraordinaire, is a master bird bander! Join us for this week's video to learn a bit about what that is! For a more in depth look at the process of bird banding, also check out: https://youtu.be/DkHPV2P9GxA

Right now, those beautiful fall tree leaves are definitely attention-grabbing everytime we step outside! But why are only some of them changing colour and dropping? This week, Naturalist Interns, Kitty and Jenny, visit the Dwarf Conifer Collection to discuss just that!

Sometimes, a bird feeder will also attract birds of prey for some delicious food and that’s okay! We were surprised to find a pile of feathers on the ground by one of our bird feeders today, most likely from a bird taken by a hawk or falcon. These predator birds need food too, and they do an important job keeping the prey populations under control. It’s also great to see signs of more biodiversity near our feeders! Can you guess who these feathers belong to?