A Tree City USA, the Town of Jonesborough maintains a state certified, Level-2 arboretum, located at 101 Britt Drive, just off West Main Street. Named by the Town “Ardinna Woods”, after the Celtic deity venerated as guardian of forests in ancient times, the arboretum hosts more than seventy tree species native to the Southern Appalachian region, in two principal collections. Large and medium size trees, along Britt Drive, include such rare species as Yellowwood, Black Tupelo and Kentucky Coffeetree, as well as hickories, oaks and other, more common species. It also showcases the Restoration American Chestnut tree, bred by the American Chestnut Foundation for resistance to the virus blight that had killed all Eastern Chestnut Trees during the early decades of the last century. Small-stature trees, mostly in a bank area along Highway 81S, include the Umbrella Tree, Caroline Cherry Laurel and Carolina Buckthorn, American Smoketree, Hoptree Dogwoods and others.
Most of the arboretum choices in trees and shrubs, and its native vines and wildflowers, serve as hosts or nectar plants for eastern region butterflies, and their fruits nourish birds and other wildlife.
The site includes a butterfly garden featured in the March/April 2011 edition of The Tennessee Conservationist Magazine. The arboretum is registered and certified as Waystation 1953 under the International Monarch Waystation Program and was again featured in The Tennessee Conservationist Magazine in the May/June 2017 edition
First opened in September 2011, the arboretum was re-certified, in October 2016, by the Tennessee Urban Forestry Council.
Volunteers & Plot Adopters Information
Volunteers are not required to have an extensive knowledge of plants, but we ask that they be willing to learn. Education on the plants and weeds within a plot is provided and all materials for maintenance is provided on site.
The “Adopt-a-Plot Program” is a program created to allow individuals, clubs, or groups to adopt a plot at the arboretum to maintain throughout the year. Volunteers are expected to keep assigned plot(s) clear of weeds and other invasive plants and cut back certain plants in the fall and spring, depending on the plot as well as Work Day Volunteers.
For those individuals who aren’t able to commit to adopting a plot and ongoing work in the Arboretum, there are open work days scheduled throughout the season where individuals are invited to come and work in the Arboretum with a group of individuals. It’s a great way to work with family, friends and the people in the community while making a difference in the Arboretum. It isn’t a long-term commitment and allows a volunteer more flexibility. Individuals interested in getting involved in volunteering can fill out a Volunteer Interest Form.
Touring the Arboretum
Public, guided arboretum walks and butterfly-watch tours are held at the site during the summer months. Free brochures describing some of the plant collections are available at a parking-area kiosk, including one for self-guided viewing of its trees.
In addition to scheduled, guided tours, the site is open for free, public viewing year-round. For more information on the Ardinna Woods Arboretum and Butterfly Garden call 423.753.1030.
The arboretum also showcases a mural designed and painted by a local artist displaying the colorful richness of plants and wildlife in the heart of the Southern Appalachians, from the Blue Ridge to the Cumberland and Ridge-and-Valley region of Tennessee. This region is regarded by botanists as the “Noah’s Ark” of the flora of eastern North America, and more than hundred of its native wildflower species are part of the Ardinna Woods collections.
