Arboretum

Outdoor garden

Onglets

Description

The Arboretum collection occupies a vast green space at the heart of the Jardin botanique. It consists of approximately 6,000 specimens of trees and shrubs, accounting for close to 800 species. Over 100 genera of trees and shrubs are represented.

The Arboretum for the most part contains species native to Québec, Canada and North America, but species and cultivars from around the world that tolerate our climate are also found here, along with certain rare species and ancestral cultivars.

The collection of trees makes it possible to enjoy the metamorphoses of nature over the seasons, while maintaining its educational and scientific mission.

Some spaces are mowed less frequently, and allow for the development of wildflowers. That practice is beneficial for many organisms, including pollinating insects and butterflies. The strategy is part of our efforts to reduce our greenhouse gas emissions and noise pollution while adding to the biodiversity of the site.

The Arboretum occupies over half the total area of the Jardin botanique de Montréal, covering 40 hectares, or the equivalent of 56 soccer fields.

Flowering periods of the principal groups of trees

March and April: pussy willow (Salix)

May: pear trees (Pyrus), cherry trees and plum trees (Prunus), crabapple trees (Malus), saskatoons serviceberries (Amelanchier spp.) and hawthorns (Crataegus)

Mid-May to mid-July: lilacs (Syringa)

Late May to June: weigelas (Weigela) and honeysuckles (Lonicera)

Early June: horse chestnut trees (Aesculus)

Mid-June: robinias (Robinia)

Early July: catalpas (Catalpa)

July: lindens (Tilia)

Throughout the autumn, the trees in the Arboretum take on flamboyant hues, particularly in the maple collection.

Created

1945

Area

400,000 m²

Taxa

nearly 2,000

For more information

Frédéric Back Tree Pavilion

Trees and shrubs

Map

- 1
  
  Ash woodland path
- 2
  
  Phellodendron
- 3a
  
  Crataegus
- 3b
  
  Crataegus
- 4
  
  Betula
- 5a
  
  Carya
- 5b
  
  Carya
- 6
  
  Catalpa
- 7
  
  Castanea
- 8
  
  Quercus
- 9
  
  Gymnocladus
- 10
  
  Chamaecyparis
- 11
  
  Picea
- 12
  
  Acer (American)
- 13a
  
  Acer (Eurasian)
- 13b
  
  Acer (Eurasian)
- 14
  
  Gleditsia
- 15
  
  Fraxinus
- 16
  
  Juniperus
- 17
  
  Ginkgo
- 18
  
  Fagus
- 19
  
  Taxus
- 20
  
  Aesculus
- 21
  
  Larix
- 22
  
  Celtis
- 23
  
  Morus
- 24
  
  Corylus
- 25
  
  Juglans
- 26
  
  Ulmus
- 27a
  
  Populus
- 27b
  
  Populus
- 28
  
  Pinus
- 29
  
  Platanus
- 30
  
  Pyrus
- 31
  
  Malus
- 32
  
  Prunus
- 33
  
  Robinia
- 34
  
  Abies/Pseudotsuga
- 35
  
  Salix
- 36
  
  Sorbus
- 37
  
  Thuja
- 38
  
  Tilia
- Frédéric Back Tree Pavilion
- Pond
- Courtyard of miniturized North American trees
- Entrance
1. 1
  
  Ash woodland path
2. 2
  
  Phellodendron
3. 3a
  
  Crataegus
4. 3b
  
  Crataegus
5. 4
  
  Betula
6. 5a
  
  Carya
7. 5b
  
  Carya
8. 6
  
  Catalpa
9. 7
  
  Castanea
10. 8
  
  Quercus
11. 9
  
  Gymnocladus
12. 10
  
  Chamaecyparis
1. 11
  
  Picea
2. 12
  
  Acer (American)
3. 13a
  
  Acer (Eurasian)
4. 13b
  
  Acer (Eurasian)
5. 14
  
  Gleditsia
6. 15
  
  Fraxinus
7. 16
  
  Juniperus
8. 17
  
  Ginkgo
9. 18
  
  Fagus
10. 19
  
  Taxus
11. 20
  
  Aesculus
12. 21
  
  Larix
1. 22
  
  Celtis
2. 23
  
  Morus
3. 24
  
  Corylus
4. 25
  
  Juglans
5. 26
  
  Ulmus
6. 27a
  
  Populus
7. 27b
  
  Populus
8. 28
  
  Pinus
9. 29
  
  Platanus
10. 30
  
  Pyrus
11. 31
  
  Malus
1. 32
  
  Prunus
2. 33
  
  Robinia
3. 34
  
  Abies/Pseudotsuga
4. 35
  
  Salix
5. 36
  
  Sorbus
6. 37
  
  Thuja
7. 38
  
  Tilia
8. Frédéric Back Tree Pavilion
9. Pond
10. Courtyard of miniturized North American trees
11. Entrance

Explore

The tree in all its facets

The open-air exhibition The Tree Is a Living Being presents the different genera of trees in the Arboretum’s collection along with their characteristics. This trail also explores different aspects of the biology and physiology of trees. Interpretive panels guide visitors along the path while revealing fascinating information about trees and the importance of these grand plants.

In the Arboretum, visitors can travel their own path, choosing whichever walkway they please.

In all seasons, it’s an intriguing and original way of discovering this enchanting spot and appreciating the invaluable contribution that trees make to our biodiversity and our quality of life.

Ornamental crabapples trees

In the spring, the flowering of the Jardin botanique de Montréal’s ornamental crabapple tree collection (Malus spp.) might evoke for many a scene worthy of impressionist paintings.

Above and beyond its aesthetic and educational value, this collection provides abundant fruit and shelter to several species of birds. Birdwatchers are welcome to enjoy this site.

The collection contains about 150 crabapple trees, representing several dozen cultivars and hybrids as well as up to 15 botanical species.

Emblematic tree of Montréal

The City of Montréal chose the crabapple in May 1995 as its arboreal symbol. Selecting a tree that blooms in the spring means celebrating the return to life. Other big cities have done the same: Amsterdam has its tulips; Tokyo and Washington D.C., their cherry trees.

The lilacs

What could be more enjoyable in late May than a stroll through our lilac collection, smelling their sweet scent while admiring their flower clusters in such varied colors and shapes? Close to 200 cultivars and 20 different species make up this collection of the genus Syringa. Most of these shrubs are planted on a very gentle slope near the Flowery Brook. This collection extends northward as far as the edge of the pond.

History

A former stone quarry

In the 1930s, as the Jardin botanique’s construction began at the intersection of Sherbrooke Street and Pie-IX Boulevard, a little further north, along what is now Rosemont Boulevard, a municipal stone quarry was still in operation. The Jardin botanique designer, Henry Teuscher, dreamed of laying out hanging gardens there!

In 1936, the first trees were planted at the entrance to the Jardin and around the administration building. The collections of lilacs, alders, birches and willows around the ponds were established at the same time. The two ponds were dug in 1937 and 1938.

It was not until the late 1940s that we saw the first collections planted in the south of today’s Arboretum. This was a section that contained crabapple, mountain ash, cherries, plums, pears and trees in the rose family (Rosaceae).

In the 1960s, the stone quarry pit was finally filled in and replaced with trees as part of an expanded Arboretum for the Jardin botanique.

Did you know?

The Arboretum is a favorite spot for birds. Quite a few of the 200 species observed at the Jardin can be found there. In winter, a network of feeders makes birdwatching easier.
Un Jardin à soi (A Garden for Oneself), a work by Michel Goulet, can be admired in the Arboretum, not far from the Leslie Hancock Garden. It consists of a single chair and a small stainless steel enclosure whose patterns are inspired by the families of deciduous trees found in the Arboretum. That chair had been stolen from Place Roy in Montréal, where it was part of the work Les leçons singulières (Singular Lessons). The artist Michel Goulet wanted to reintroduce it in a public area, and incorporated it into a new work that can now be admired in the Jardin.
The sculptures Rectangle by Armand Vaillancourt (1965) and Regarder les pommetiers (Looking at the Crabapple Trees) by Jocelyne Alloucherie (2007) may also be seen at the Arboretum.
Arboretum is a Latin word meaning “place planted with trees.” Arbor means “tree,” and etum is a suffix meaning “place.”

Best time to visit

May

Crabapples (Malus) and cherries trees (Prunus)

Mid-September to mid-October

Maples (Acer), for their spectacular autumn coloring

Global menu mobile en

Arboretum

Arboretum

Onglets

Flowering periods of the principal groups of trees

Created

Area

Taxa

For more information

The tree in all its facets

Ornamental crabapples trees

Emblematic tree of Montréal

The lilacs

History

A former stone quarry

Did you know?

Best time to visit