Archives

• Land Care Report: Summer Students October 30, 2023

  Each summer, the Arboretum natural areas and Longenecker Horticultural Gardens benefit from college students who work alongside the land care staff. In 2023, two students… Read more

• Land Care Report: Skunk Cabbage Wetlands and Winter Restoration Progress May 16, 2023

  Winter and early spring of 2023 were an exciting time for the land care crew and their oak savanna and wetland brush clearing projects. In… Read more

• Spring Is Prescribed Fire Season March 29, 2023

  Prescribed fire season is underway at the Arboretum. Prairies, oak savannas, and oak woodlands – ecosystems native to Wisconsin – evolved to rely on fire… Read more

• Land Care Report: A Record Year in Seed Collection and Donations December 30, 2022

  When the snow begins to fall, it brings a change in work for the Arboretum land care crew. Chainsaws and forestry mowers rumble to life… Read more

• Jumping Worm Research Enhanced by Student Researchers September 29, 2022

  Non-native invasive species can negatively affect the conservation of native species, restoration goals for natural areas, and general ecosystem health. At the Arboretum, we manage… Read more

• Operation Fresh Start Conservation Academy Crew Assists Restoration Efforts August 30, 2022

  Over eight days in August, the Arboretum land care operation received a people-powered restoration boost from an Operation Fresh Start (OFS) Conservation Academy crew. Read more

• Sustainable Lawn Care July 18, 2022

  The Arboretum’s mission and land care work focuses on conserving and restoring natural areas. We also manage dozens of acres of lawn, mostly in our… Read more

• Land Care Report: Continued Improvements at Faville Prairie May 2, 2022

  In September 2018 I wrote about the Arboretum’s historical connection to the preservation of Faville Prairie near Lake Mills, Wisconsin. I also… Read more

• Celebrating Persistence and Re-emergence: Appreciating the 2021 Volunteers March 31, 2022

  Spring, April: a time of rebirth and renewal in the north, a time to appreciate having endured another cold dark winter and embracing the return… Read more

• Land Care Report: Seed Collection Bolsters Restorations January 6, 2022

  Invasive species management, tree and brush removal, and prescribed fire are three major components of our restoration work at the Arboretum, and so I’ve written… Read more

• On the Trails: Gardner Marsh Boardwalk Improvements December 1, 2021

  The Gardner Marsh boardwalk, near the Mills Street entrance, has been deteriorating over the past few years. In 2018 and 2019 the boardwalk was closed… Read more

• Land Care Report: Maintaining the Arboretum Grounds September 29, 2021

  The field staff wrapped up the spring burn season in May and jumped right into invasive species management and seed collection. These aspects of natural… Read more

• Wisconsin's prairies shine in late summer, from Lapham Peak to UW Arboretum August 25, 2021

  Prairies aren’t just pretty to look it and nice to walk through. They’re vital to species like American kestrels, bobolinks, sandhill cranes, eastern meadowlark, federally endangered Karner blue butterflies, bees and other pollinators. Read more

• Land Care Report: 2021 Spring Fire Season Is One for the Record Books May 27, 2021

  The spring prescribed fire season is always an exciting time of year, but the Arboretum fire crew looked forward to this year’s season with extra… Read more

• Curtis Pond: Engineering and Restoration to Protect the Prairie December 1, 2020

  October marked the completion of the rehabilitation of the Curtis Prairie stormwater detention pond that began in March, the last of the major stormwater… Read more

• Arboretum and Partners Receive Major EPA Grant for Stormwater Outreach November 30, 2020

  With support from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the Arboretum and neighborhood, city, and county partners are pleased to embark on the WATER (Water… Read more

• Land Care Report: Signs of Restoration Success September 1, 2020

  It has been a year unlike any other for the Arboretum restoration crew, as it has for so many people. It started with the crew… Read more

• Director’s Note, June 2020 June 1, 2020

  To the UW–Madison Arboretum Community, I hope that you are safe and healthy, and that the rhythms of the natural world are a source of… Read more

• Land Care Report: Monitoring and Restoring Noe Woods April 30, 2020

  Entering the Arboretum on McCaffrey Drive from Seminole Highway, visitors are greeted by a high canopy of large oaks and other tree species and then… Read more

• Protecting the prairie: UW Arboretum begins final phase of decade-long stormwater management March 9, 2020

  Work has begun on the final phase of a $6.8 million effort to protect the UW Arboretum from urban runoff, which has washed out trails,… Read more