Our Mission and Projects

Our Mission
Our mission is to preserve and enhance the natural and landscaped resources of the Bard College campus and promote knowledge of and appreciation for ornamental horticulture and conservation. The Bard Arboretum aims to provide an environment rich in horticultural diversity and beauty that can be readily enjoyed by the College and surrounding community. Furthermore, we envision the Bard Arboretum as a place to understand and appreciate a nationally significant historical landscape in the Hudson Valley.

Bard Arboretum 15th Anniversary Timeline

2007

Arboretum Dedication Ceremony and Tree Planting
Tree Hazard Evaluation Begins
Bluebird Pilot Program Begins
Tree Identification Labels installed campus-wide
Getty Foundation Award Grant for Preservation Study

2008

Campus mapping and labeling of Bard’s trees and plants begun
Quercus, Arboretum newsletter released
Preservation Master Plan completed
Stanley Smith Horticultural Trust Awards Arboretum
Millbrook Garden Club Funds Arboretum Intern
Garden Conservancy Open Days Directory includes Bard Arboretum

2009

New York Botanical Garden classes come to Bard
Arboretum awarded Tree Campus USA by Arbor Day Foundation
Hosted Doug Tallamy, Entomologist to talk about the Importance of Native Plants in Our Gardens
Benefit Luncheon and Falcon Show at Blithewood
Brick walk restored at Blithewood
Parliament of Reality completed
Blithewood: A History of Place by Bessina Harrar published

2010

Monthly Arboretum walking tours begin
350.org Day Celebration bulb planting at Reem Kayden Science Center
Bard Sites: A Look at Outdoor Campus Spaces & Furniture at Bard handbook published

2011

Restoration of Annandale Road stonewall completed
Arboretum and Blithewood in several publications including: Gardens of the Hudson Valley by Steve Gross and Susan Daley, Landscape Gardens of the Hudson River Valley by Robert Toole, Annandale-on-Hudson’s Historic Estates and their Landscapes by Amy B. Parrella, Hudson Valley Regional Review 2010
Arboretum calendar published
Project Budbreak initiated on campus
Bard College is first campus is US to be a “bird-friendly” campus
Arboretum ranked among America’s most beautiful campuses in Travel and Leisure magazine (October 2011)

2012

Two students from the Class of 2012 created the Young Naturalist Initiative that used Bard Arboretum as a living classroom
Eastern Hemlock replacement program underway
Arboretum awarded $30,000 from the Zoos, Botanical Gardens and Aquarium Program of the Natural Heritage Trust, administered by the New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation
Bard Arboretum and Blithewood Garden featured in Exploring Gardens & Green Spaces: From Connecticut to the Delaware Valley by Magda Salvesen
Bard’s beauty idealized in Matt Taibbi’s article in Town & Country magazine, “Is Bard the new Brown?”

2013

Bard’s own trees used in Mark Handforth’s Bard Bench (Oak-Black Walnut-Tulip Poplar), commissioned by the Center for Curatorial Studies
Bard’s Floral Report Card published
Arboretum Walks with the Director started

2014

Rick Darke’s lecture on his book The Wild Garden (2009) was cosponsored by the Beatrix Farrand Garden Association
Arboretum awarded $60,000 from the Zoos, Botanical Gardens and Aquarium Program of the Natural Heritage Trust, administered by the New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation
David Horvitz MFA’11 donated Imprint Projects, Book with Seeds from the Trees in Zuccotti Park, which was planted on the grounds of the Center for Curatorial Studies

2015

Hudson River Valley National Heritage Area Greenway grant awarded for Blithewood Garden interpretive signage
Blithewood’s vista was enhanced to better reflect AJ Davis’s watercolor of the view from Blithewood lawn in 1835.
Blithewood’s garden fountain pool was restored
Arboretum takes part in Hudson Valley Garden Fair, hosted by the Hudson Valley Garden Association and held at Montgomery Place
Bard’s Stevenson Library showcases Arboretum Exhibit
Bard Arboretum is recognized in New York State’s Big Tree Register
Innovative plantings capture stormwater at Olin’s commuter parking lot

2016

Arboretum expands to include Montgomery Place grounds, a 380-acre national historic landmark estate
Making a New Generation: Propagating the Historic Blithewood Maple
Bard’s Arboretum has seven of the biggest trees in New York
Blithewood’s iconic marble statue of a seated woman with dog and cat, carved by American neoclassical sculptor Joseph Mozier (1812-70), was conserved and a treatment plan was developed
New Arboretum seasonal self-guided walking tour brochure published
Garden tour of Montgomery Place grounds featured in Saw Kill Celebration: 175 Years of Scenic Preservation

2017

Arboretum celebrates 10th anniversary with education series, Margie Rudick and CeCe Haydock
Arboretum receives $175,000 grant from the Zoos, Botanical Gardens and Aquarium Program of the Natural Heritage Trust, administered by the New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation
Garden Conservancy joins forces with Bard Arboretum to rehabilitate Blithewood Garden
Friends of Blithewood Garden formed
$100,000 grant received from Burpee Foundation to restore 1929 Hitchings & Company Greenhouse at Montgomery Place campus
Stevenson library hosted Structured Beauty, an exhibition of historical documents about Blithewood Garden

2018

Blithewood Garden celebrates 115th anniversary with Fall Equinox Party and lecture entitled, "Architectural Gardens: Challenges of Preserving Formal Structures in the Landscape"
Arboretum launches You Tube film about the Bard Arboretum, mission, goals, and outreach
Bard Arboretum awarded with Level II ArbNet Accreditation
New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (NYSDEC) awards Bard College a three-year Invasive Species Rapid Response and Control Grant that supported a plan to use goats to clear invasive plant overgrowth from a 1.5-acre hillside near Blithewood Manor
Blithewood Engineering Assessment completed

2019

Blithewood Garden Historic Condition Report completed
Tivoli South Bay Trail Sustainable Access Plan completed
New trailhead sign installed at Tivoli South Bay Trail near Blithewood
Joins the American Chestnut Foundation and plants a block of American Chestnut trees in support of the restoration of the species
Gilsonfest: The Exceptional Journey of Alexander Gilson exhibit in Red Hook, NY and Montgomery Place campus
Historic Garden Ornament Exhibition held at Montgomery Place
Steel and Scale Remarks, a spring student sculpture outdoor exhibit at Montgomery Place campus
New seasonal self-guided Arboretum brochure for winter published

2020

Hosts an outdoor exhibit called, The Gilded Garden - Historic Ornament in the Landscape at Montgomery Place
Fruiting Bodies: The Mycological Passions of John Cage (1912-92) and Violetta White Delafield (1875-1949), a conference and an exhibit on a historical look at mushrooms at Bard
Bard College adopts Land Acknowledgment
Garden Conservancy produced a short film to document the significance of Blithewood Garden
Bard’s Nursery School launches new Outdoor Adventure Program at Montgomery Place campus
Inside Out: Fall Sculpture Exhibition at Montgomery Place Campus
Bard awarded to grant to restore historic Blithewood vista by Hudson River Estuary Program of Cornell University and New York State Department of Environmental Conservation
"Seasons of Blithewood Garden," musical composition by Ethan Isaac ‘18 wins competition and becomes Blithewood Garden’s theme song

2021

The South Woods, located on the Montgomery Place campus was initiated into the Old-Growth Forest Network
Restored Blithewood vista featured in New York State handbook
Arboretum received Tree Campus USA award for 10 years in a row
Starts Bard Arboretum Native Nursery
Joins Pollinator Pathway Project

2022 and Beyond - A Look Ahead…more to come!

#1 Priority: Revamping the Arboretum Education Program
#2 Priority: Continue Blithewood rehabilitation project
#3 Priority: Bard’s Native Nursery Initiative

Photo by Karl Rabe

Landscape Master Plan

Nelson Byrd Woltz Landscape Architects, a research-based design firm, will lead Bard College's comprehensive planning process for its 930-acre campus. The firm will develop the College’s first comprehensive campus landscape plan since 1988 to bring harmony among its many cultural landscapes and ecological assets and develop the tools needed to make sensitive and thoughtful planning decisions.

Blithewood Garden Rehabilitation Project

Bard College and the Garden Conservancy, a national nonprofit organization dedicated to saving and sharing outstanding America gardens, are working together on repairs to the historic garden’s structures and hardscape.

Learn more about Blithewood Garden

Ongoing Projects

Horticultural Labels and Signage

There is an ongoing effort to install identification and interpretive labels and signs for significant specimen trees and ornamental plantings and gardens. Such signage is critical in promoting a campus-wide ecological literacy and appreciation for horticultural assets.
Plant Inventory Database

The Arboretum has begun to systematically catalog Bard's horticultural assets with a plant management software called BG BASE Collections and Management System. This software allows the cataloging and routine monitoring of Bard's horticultural resources. It also serves as a historical record of the Arboretum.
Landscape Maintenance and Tree Care

An essential ongoing activity of the Horticulture and Grounds staff is the upkeep of the grounds. This includes the preservation of ornamental, specimen, and historic trees and gardens, such as Blithewood Gardens and other historic landscape features.
Preservation Master Plan

The historic landscape at Bard is actively being preserved, maintained, and restored under Bard's Preservation Master Plan (2008). This plan includes an inventory, assessment, and recommendations for Bard's historic landscapes and architecture.