Something Great is Growing On: UMW Voted Tree Campus Nine Years in a Row

Twice a year, Holly Chichester-Morby peruses the University of Mary Washington's Fredericksburg campus - from one end to the other - taking inventory of its more than 8,000 trees. She looks for broken branches, hanging limbs, climbing ivy, insect damage and signs of disease.

"UMW is known for its tree canopy and parklike setting," said Chichester-Morby, who directs University Landscape and Grounds and is in constant communication with the grounds crew about specific needs. "This proactive approach saves us money - and many trees - down the road."

It also helps earn honors for Mary Washington, one of only 10 Virginia schools to receive recognition as a 2023 Tree Campus by the Arbor Day Foundation last month, marking the ninth consecutive year the University has made the cut. So, ahead of National Tree Day on Sunday, July 28, UMW is celebrating its white oaks and redbuds, its cedars and spruce, its poplars and persimmons, and the care that goes into keeping them all healthy and flourishing.

Conserving all that lush, leafy greenery is time-consuming. This past Arbor Day, an annual celebration that takes place the last Friday in April, Chichester-Morby and her crew added three Tilia americana (basswood) on the College Avenue side of the Cedric Rucker University Center. With the potential to grow as high as 80 feet, the towering basswoods will help visually balance the size and scale of the three-story student center at the heart of campus.

"We have three basswoods over by Monroe Hall that are huge and happy, so it's a proven tree for our campus," she said of the species, which comes with additional ecological benefits. "It faces west and gets full sun radiance for much of the day. Shade will eventually give the building HVAC systems a break."

The mulching and trimming and vast garden of work that gets done on UMW's sycamores and sassafras, hollies and beech, dogwoods and crape myrtles is growing its own green side, too, as the University transitions to landscape equipment based on cleaner technologies. Noisy, gas-powered mowers, blowers and pruners are being replaced by quieter, Earth-friendly models.

Adding to the TLC Mary Washington showers on its bounty of trees, the University also maintains a Tree Advisory Committee, consisting of Chichester-Morby, plus faculty, staff, student and community representatives. And just last month, UMW welcomed new Sustainability Coordinator Brenda Togo, who will work with Chichester-Morby to implement forward-looking approaches to energy, economics and community well-being … and to keep the Tree Campus accolades coming.

"I'm thankful that my predecessor had a similar appreciation for trees and set UMW up for success," Chichester Morby said. "I was an International Society of Arboriculture-certified arborist long before I was UMW's director of Landscape and Grounds, so trees are at the forefront of what I do - and always will be."

UMW's Tree Festival will take place Oct. 4, followed by a Native Plant Festival on Oct. 5. Stay tuned for details. And check out UMW Facilities' new Instagram page.