Archives

• Celebrate Restoration Team Leaders – and Maybe Become One! February 26, 2026

  We are excited, come April, to continue a longstanding Arboretum program: training and welcoming new volunteer restoration team leaders! Since 2002, team leaders have directed… Read more

• Become a Restoration Team Leader: Care for Nature and Build Community February 3, 2026

  Are you interested in growing your ecological expertise and contributing to local conservation efforts? Become an Arboretum restoration team leader! Team leaders are trained volunteers… Read more

• Restoration Work Parties Resume Mid-February, with Changes February 3, 2026

  On many Saturdays, somewhere in the Arboretum, an exceptional mix of dedicated volunteers pull weedy plants from soils, lop woody brush in a restored woodland,… Read more

• Giving Thanks and Celebrating Volunteers December 2, 2025

  We’ve entered the season of thanksgiving and celebration, reflection and connection – an ideal time to “bellow forth the tubas and sousaphones, the whole rusty… Read more

• Appreciating Student Staff September 17, 2025

  The Arboretum hires more than a dozen college students a year, for summer seasonal roles as outdoor educators and assistant staff in land care and… Read more

• Learn, Lead, Repeat: The Summer Camp Staff Experience September 4, 2025

  Every summer, the Arboretum’s core staff is joined by a cohort of college students from UW–Madison and other campuses to help advance all facets of… Read more

• People Caring for the Land: Volunteers, Communities, and Connection July 31, 2025

  Spring brought abundant blossoms, greening of the prairie, songs of migratory birds, and many volunteer groups active on the land. In just thirteen… Read more

• Welcome Micah Kloppenburg June 2, 2025

  The Arboretum is pleased to welcome Micah Kloppenburg as our new ecological restoration outreach coordinator. Micah most recently worked for the Xerces Society as the… Read more

• Spring Is Prescribed Fire Season April 8, 2025

  Prescribed fire season is underway at the Arboretum. Wisconsin’s prairies, oak savannas, oak woodlands, and even some wetlands evolved to rely on fire for regeneration. Read more

• A Big Year for Volunteers and the Arboretum April 3, 2025

  What can a small group of committed individuals accomplish? A lot! What can a large group accomplish? Even more! When the group is 970 people… Read more

• Everyone Learns with Capstone Classes at the Arboretum February 4, 2025

  UW–Madison students can experience the Arboretum as visitors, volunteers, employees, researchers, and learners. Some students visit the Arboretum once or twice during their… Read more

• Gardening with Native Plants: Winter Reading December 2, 2024

  December is the first month of meteorological winter and brings the shortest days of the year, often with cold and snow. Gardens are quiet this… Read more

• Land Care Report: The Stages of Restoring Valuable Oak Savannas November 4, 2024

  When people think of Arboretum restorations, they likely envision prairies, especially Curtis and Greene Prairies. That makes sense, given the historical importance of Curtis and… Read more

• Arboretum Launches Longenecker Horticultural Gardens Online Collections July 31, 2024

  We frequently hear some variation of this question from visitors: “How do I find [describes a tree or bench] in the gardens?” Sometimes people are… Read more

• Summer Volunteer Groups: Myriad Motivations, Many Rewards July 30, 2024

  Summer is a busy time for volunteer groups at the Arboretum, with at least one service project each week from June through August. Corporate groups,… Read more

• Land Care Report: Severe Weather and Storm Damage July 1, 2024

  On the afternoon of Wednesday, June 19, I was stuck in the Arboretum maintenance building after the crew left for the day, waiting for what… Read more

• Arboretum Restoration Team Leader Program Serves as a Model for Participatory Leadership May 1, 2024

  For more than three decades, the Arboretum’s drop-in restoration work parties have engaged hundreds of community volunteers each year in restoring and caring for Arboretum… Read more

• Appreciating the 2023 Volunteers April 1, 2024

  The Arboretum is a gift from past generations to the present, and in the present we pass on this gift by stewarding the land for… Read more

• Land Care Report: Growing Native Plants for Restoration February 29, 2024

  An old greenhouse, which has not been used to grow plants in several years, occupies the south-facing section of the Arboretum’s lab building, east of… Read more

• 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