Shelby Avenue Arboretum

The Shelby Avenue Arboretum is a newly established arboretum in the heart of Nashville. Located in East Nashville neighborhood, the first tree for the project was planted in 2019. In 2020, East Nashville and other neighborhoods were decimated by an F3 Tornado followed by the global pandemic. Despite these challenges, over 270 trees were planted in 2020 by community volunteers following safe distancing and other pandemic protocols. This project now hosts over 680 trees with a vision to plant just over 1,000 trees in total. The vision of this project to connect people to nature in their everyday urban neighborhood experience. The trees planted in this project are interesting, some are unique, all are beautiful, and this project endeavors to inspire the next generation of naturalist, or at the very least, help people see nature in its splendor.