GCGC Arboretum

 

 GCGC Urban Arboretum
An accredited Level I Arboretum 

Morton Registry & Arbnet

in the botanical gardens at the Kilgore-Lewis House

560 N. Academy St.  Greenville, SC  29601

Image

Thank you to Schneider Tree Care staff for the free of cost mapping of our Arboretum trees.  These “Tree Plotters” mark the trees with a small tag and add the global positioning (GPS) coordinates which were transferred to an aerial map of the property using google maps, and color coded to the map.  There is a listing of the trees, with their color locating it on the map. This undertaking will be useful in the future for planning purposes and for and maintaining our trees.

Our responsibility is to champion, advocate and promote this first accredited urban arboretum for the Greenville community. We focus on public education and maintaining our display gardens for the enjoyment of all.

The Greenville Arboretum at the Greenville Council of Garden Club’s headquarters  is a diverse collection of primarily native trees and plants that is open to the general public free of charge during daylight hours. As an arboretum, our purpose is twofold:  to provide a lovely park in this urban environment, and to promote the care, maintenance, sustainability and benefits of trees, woody plants and our historic water source through public education. 

OUR TREES

75 trees have been labeled with common and scientific names. Many of our trees have been on the property for decades, others have been added yearly. The trees grow in an environment that encompasses hills and a flood plain. Greenville area weather is widely variable, from cold winter temperatures to hot summer months, from wet and humid times to periods of drought. Thus, we have a Cypress tree in the flood plain by our pond, and a variety of deciduous broad-leaf and conifer trees along and above the flood plain. 
There is a rare surviving stand of native river cane and a variety of native woody plants including mountain laurel, rhododendrons, native azaleas. We also have some special trees such as Harry Lauder Walking Stick, a bottlebrush buckeye, a native hackberry, and a false larch. Beneath the canopy is a mix of sasanqua and japonica camellias, tea olives, dogwoods and other woody specimens. 

THE ARBORETUM COMMITTEE

The Arboretum Committee was set up in 2018 to focus particularly on the selection, collection, and maintenance of trees and woody plants. An advisory committee of local arborists has been created for professional guidance.  The Urban Arboretum was accredited in 2019 and re-certified in 2024.

Trees in the Arboretum with Common & Botanical names

  The list below are trees that are tagged

 

Tag Stake Common Name of Tree Genus Species Variety (?)
1   American Holly Ilex opaca  
  1 American Hornbeam/Muscle Wood Carpinus caroliniana  
1   American Sycamore Platanus occidentalis  
    Amur Maple Acer ginnala  
  1 Bald Cypress Taxodium distichum  
1   Black Gum Tupelo Nyssa sylvatica  
  1 Bottle Brush Buckeye Aesculus parviflora  
  1 Carolina Sapphire Cupressa arizonica X  ‘Carolina Sapphire’
  1 Chaste Tree Vitex agnus-castus  
1 1 Chinese Elm Ulmus parvifolia  
  1 Contorted Philbert Corylus contorta  ‘Harry Lauder Walking Stick’
1   Crepe Myrtle Lagerstroemia indica X frauriei  ‘Natchez’
    Crepe Myrtle Lagerstroemia    
  1 Carolina Cherrylaurel Prunus  caroliniana  
1   Cryptomeria Cryptomeria japonica  
  1 Dawn Redwood Metasequoia glyptostroboides  ‘New Dawn’
2   Dogwood Cornus florida  
  1 Downey Serviceberry Amelanchier arborea  
2   Eastern Red Bud Cercis canadensis  
  1 Eastern Red Cedar Juniperus virginiana  
  1 Emerald Arborvitae Thuja latifolia  
  1 False Larch Pseudolarix kaempeferi  
  1 Fringetree/Grancy Gray Beard Chionanthus virginicus  
1   Ginko Ginko biloba  
1   Hackberry Celtis occidentalis  
2   Hemlock Tsuga canadensis  
1   Hemlock – Carolina Hemlock Tsuga caroliniana  
  1 Holly Ilex    x ‘Nellie R Stevens’
  1 Holly Ilex X attenuata  ‘Savannah’
1   Sugar Maple Acer saccrharum  
1   Japanese Maple Acer palmatum  
1   Little Leaf Linden Tilia cordata  
1   Magnolia- Sweet Bay Magnolia virginiana  
1   Decidious Magnolia Magnolia stellata  
2   Southern Magnolia Magnolia grandiflora  
1   Saucer Magnolia Magnolia X soulangeana  
  2 Mountain Laurel Kalamia latifolia  
1   Northern Red Oak Quercus rubra  
1   Pin Oak Quercus paulistris  
1   Scarlet Oak Quercus coccinea  
1   Post Oak Quercus stellata  
1   Southern Red Oak Quercus falcata  
2   Red Maple Acer rubrum  
  1 Red Maple Acer rubrum  ‘Brandy Wine’
1   River Birch Betula nigra  
1   Sour Wood Oxydendrum arboreum  
2 2 Norway Spruce Picea abies  
  1 Tea Olive Osmanthus fragrans  ‘Fragrant’
2   Tulip Poplar Liriodendron tulipifera  
2   Water Oak Quercus nigra  
1   Cherry Bark Oak Quercus pagoda  
1   Overcup Oak Quercus lyrata  
    White Oak Quercus alba  
1   White Pine Pinus Strobus  
2   Willow Oak Quercus phellos  
1   Yoshino Cherry Prunus  yedoensis  
1   Oak Leaf Hydrangea Hydrangea quercifolia  ‘Alice’
1   Chestnut Oak Quercus montana  
1   Endless Summer Hydrangea Hydrangea macrophylla  ‘Endless Summer’
1   Annabelle Hydrangea Hydrangea arborescens  ‘Annabelle’
1   Anise Illicium florfloridanum  ‘Woodland Ruby’
  1 Eastern Redcedar Juniperus virginiana  
1   Winterberry Ilex verticillata  
    Arborvitae Thuja plicata X T.Standishii  ‘Green Giant”‘
1   Loblolly Pine Pinus taeda  
  1 Native Small  Cane Arundinaria tecta  
51 24 75 TOTAL Trees Labeled