Howard County Arboreta
"If you are thinking a year ahead, sow a seed. If you are thinking ten years ahead, plant a tree. If you are thinking one hundred years ahead, educate the people." Chinese Poet, 500 BCThe Howard County Arboreta are arboreta without walls: there are no boundaries, no fences, no admission charges. We live in an ecologically rich environment with an extraordinary variety of native trees. To this abundance developers, county planners, landscape artists and individual homeowners have added a wonderful assortment of exotic species.
In part, an arboretum is a collection of trees in an environment dedicated to education: teaching about the natural environment, raising consciousness about the impact each of us has on that environment. In Howard County we already have the trees and natural wooded areas. The arboretum program adds tags, interpretive signs, and other educational services to these abundant resources, enhancing their value to the entire community.
The arboretum program is based on our conviction that an understanding of the importance of our local ecosystem is fundamental to having effective environmental programs. Becoming familiar with that ecosystem, learning the names of the trees, is one pathway to that more complete understanding.
Sponsored by the Howard County Forest Conservancy District Board, these arboreta are a key component in the county's efforts to serve its citizens and raise awareness of the quality of life throughout the county.