Shelby Avenue Arboretum located in Nashville, Tennessee is a two-mile arboretum located in the East Nashville neighborhood. Embedded in an urban neighborhood, this project seeks to connect residents with the natural world around them in their everyday urban experience. On the drive to and from home, this project will light up the drive, a walk down Shelby Avenue on a hot summer day, these trees will provide a buffer and shade from harshness of the city’s concrete and asphalt.
As of 2023, the project hosts over 680 trees along a two-mile stretch of Shelby Avenue and partially into Shelby Park near the cave spring area. The full vision and plan for the project is over 1,000 trees planted, a dynamic website for every tree species in the project, and physical signage for each tree species. The project has organized its tree plantings to host multiple informative segments to help people connect with this project. To name some of these segments, the following sections have been planted: Trees that Bloom, Maples from Around The World, Native Trees in Urban Spaces, Tough Trees for Tough Places, Large Canopy Trees, Cherry Blossom Exhibit, Redbud Color Burst, Military Service Memorial Trees, etc.
In March 2020, an F3 tornado ripped through Nashville and Middle Tennessee — East Nashville being one of the hardest neighborhoods hit. This project’s timeline and importance accelerated as it became a symbol for restoring hope for a community and city torn apart by a tornado and forced to keep distant due to the global pandemic. This project runs almost in parallel with the tornado’s path and is a testament to a community’s grit to restore itself in the face of any challenge. It is a project that has connected many Nashvillians and grows with a community. As this project’s tree get established, they will provide the community more than just a symbol of hope, but also valuable air and water purifying benefits along a very busy corridor of the community.
This project is funded by public and private funds and many trees have been planted by community volunteers. Public funding sources include USDA, Tennessee Department of Agriculture, and metro tree mitigation bank funds. Private funding has come in big part from the Martin & Betty Brown family trust and the project is named in honor of their legacy and support for trees in Nashville.
With tree experts, wholesale nurseries, and tree enthusiasts, Shelby Avenue Arboretum has an in-depth knowledge of what species of trees will not only thrive in Middle Tennessee but will also enhance its natural landscape and ecosystem. Visit the arboretum or learn more about how you can add one of our 680 tree species to your property.