By Anna Moir
“ The more we are able to manage the process of change , the more likely it will be that this landscape will be passed on to later generations in the best possible condition .”
Written by Horticultural Curator Dennis Collins back in 2006 , this strategy continues to guide Mount Auburn today , fourteen years later . And the more you visit Mount Auburn , the more you might spot all the ways that it plays out across our landscape . After all , one of the Cemetery ’ s most important features is that no matter how naturally beautiful we try to keep it , the landscape is never static and does not happen by accident .
Over the years , our staff has worked thoughtfully to maintain and update different areas across the entire Cemetery to create a beautiful landscape , preserve our history , improve sustainability , and showcase our acclaimed plant collection effectively . Sometimes the work we do is obvious , particularly in the larger garden renovations at Asa Gray Garden , along Hazel Path to the Tower , and the most recent plantings in 2020 along Indian Ridge . However , changes are often much more subtle . Every day it can range from what flowers get planted where , to how we preserve older and rare specimens , to what new trees are planted each year , to the ways we respond to any threats to our plants and trees that might arise .
What threats do our plant collections face today ? Our horticulture team has had to address many different issues over time , from diseases and pests decimating specific species , to stress caused by extreme weather like storms or droughts . Factors like insects and diseases have mainly been addressed through diversification – not relying too heavily on specific plant species to increase the odds of more of our collection staying resilient . ( For instance , we have addressed Hemlock Woolly Adelgid , an invasive insect which has impacted our hemlock tree collection , by not only preserving as many as we can but also adding other conifers instead of planting more hemlocks to replace those we lose .) Extreme weather , however , points to a threat with many more unknowns that we are tackling for the longterm survival of our landscape : climate change .
Already , weather and environmental stress are the top reasons why we remove and replace trees each year ( one-third of all removals on average ). Climate change has been causing more extreme storms , more droughts , and sharper temperature contrasts , and all of this takes a heavy toll on plants . It also isn ’ t always something that we can spot immediately , because stress from one year can start to weaken plants but take a few more years to have its full impact . Add more years of extreme weather into the equation after that , and the situation gets even more tricky to control .
In the long-term , strong evidence indicates that our climate is warming . It may be hard to see on a day-to-day basis , but the reality is that our growing environment has changed over the course of Mount Auburn ’ s history . We cannot count on it supporting all the same plants moving forward . The USDA has revised its maps of hardiness zones in the past decade , with the Boston area moving into a warmer category than before ( from Zone 5 to Zone 6 ). So , we now face an
Mount Auburn Cemetery | Climate Action & Sustainability Plan 87