Trees of Tower Grove Park

The trees of Tower Grove Park constitute one of its greatest assets, and one of its greatest benefits to the people of St. Louis.  We invite you to enjoy and learn about this remarkable urban forest.

Before you step into the trees at Tower Grove Park, you may want to take a step backward . . .  to 1868.  The United States and Missouri had just ended a brutal and divisive Civil War, and the nation was poised for an era of change in industry, trade, and culture.  The world as St. Louisans had known it was about to change forever, with a technological revolution in communications, transportation and manufacturing.

At a time when so many seemed eager to push into the hectic new age, Henry Shaw contemplated more timeless values.  Shaw chose to donate and help develop a unique asset for St. Louis, a large and well thought-out park, based on the best features of the emerging art of urban park landscape design.

Shaw knew and applied the latest concepts of park design, centered on the perennial needs of people, especially those who live in large cities, to enjoy the soothing beauty of plants, open skies, grass … and trees.

Here, amid architectural, artistic and recreational “embellishments” that reflected the Victorian gift for craftsmanship and ornamentation, ordinary citizens – rich and poor, men, women and children – could enjoy a carefully selected and tended collection of trees.

Shaw had a special love of trees.  They had taught him to savor the beauty of living things, and he was fascinated by the diversity of tree types that would live on this rich soil at the upper end of the Lower Mississippi Valley.

Shaw personally oversaw the planting of several thousand trees, transforming the almost treeless prairie into a park that is remarkable for its foliage.  In addition to tree species native to Missouri, Shaw included species from Europe, China and Japan.

Of the more than 200 varieties originally planted, Shaw commented, “The finest and best trees adapted to the soil and climate of Missouri have been planted.”

As a result, today Tower Grove Park has a greater variety of trees and shrubs than any other urban park in the country.

A few of the trees that Shaw planted are still growing in the park, but more importantly, the urban forest he created is still here, and in some ways is more important than ever.

Today’s Park forest includes over 7,500 trees, of over 325 varieties.  It includes fine specimens of most of the species native to Missouri including our state tree, dogwood, and our state flower, hawthorn.

Spring brings a wash of flowering color from the magnolias, cornelian cherry and witch hazel.  Summer is shaded with the green leaves of sycamore, the feathery bald cypress, and the lustrous oaks.  Fall is especially colorful with the bright tints of red gum, sweetgum, and sugar maple.  And winter brings the beauty of bare branches etched against the blue sky, the ropey russet trunks of Osage orange, and the evergreen color of holly and Virginia red cedar.

When Shaw planted the Tower Grove Park trees, most Americans lived much closer to the land than they do now.  Trees were everywhere, and often were taken for granted.  Today, with the urbanization of so many hundreds of square miles of our nation, trees – especially trees in the heart of the city – have become ever more precious and important, not only as an amenity of beauty and refreshment, but also as a fundamental environmental benefit for cooling hot city streets, as vital habitat for scarce urban wildlife, and as living classrooms, where we can learn much about life itself.

There is no place in urban American better than Tower Grove Park to enjoy these blessings from the trees. 

Regional birdwatchers, including the Audubon Society, recommend Tower Grove Park as one of the top sites for observing a rich variety of avian life.  The Park’s mixture of mature trees and shrubs make it a vital habitat in the urban core.

Your role in the Park Forest

This great legacy, however, is at risk.  Over the past several decades, there has been a slow decline as a result of natural aging of the trees, many of which are over 100 years old.  The Tower Grove Park forest has been subject to smoke, disease, and just plain old age.  If action is not taken, our generation could very well witness the diminishment of a great legacy, and a great environmental amenity.

But this need not be the case.  Over the past ten years, and with the assistance of federal and state grants, as well as private and corporate donations, the staff at Tower Grove Park has undertaken a careful analysis of the historic forest at the Park.  The varieties of trees and shrubs that remain -- their locations, the condition of the individual specimens, and the need for replacements have been documented.  The staff has also studied the original Park design, and developed a plan for the restoration of the original Victorian forest which had been planted by Henry Shaw and his gardeners.

You can be part of the dream

With this plan in place, we are now able to bring about a great renewal, a revitalization of the original forest at Tower Grove Park.  But this will take more money than the Park receives through regular appropriations.  Thus, the Park has established a reforestation program based on contributions and grants.  This program enables individuals and organizations to participate in the reforestation program, and thus the restoration of a great St. Louis asset.

You or your organization can contribute funds for the planting of one or more trees; or you can contribute to a fund for the better care of our existing trees.

There is something very satisfying about funding a tree for a public park.  Trees live for many years, and provide benefits appreciated by young, old, rich and poor.  Supporting the tree care fund helps insure a longer and healthier life for the thousands of trees and shrubs that now live in the Park.

Please help the trees!

With your donation, you are making a commitment to the future -- and to the quality of life in St. Louis.  Donations start at $250 per tree and are tax deductible.  You will be invited to participate in the planting of your tree, your name and your chosen dedication will be recorded on the permanent donor recognition plaque in the Park office; and you will be sent a map with the location of your donated tree.  You can also designate your tree in memory of someone or in honor of a person or event.

There are several donation options to choose from:
$250 per tree and recogntion on donor plaque in the Park Office
$1,000 per tree with permanent bronze plaque at the site
$2,000 per tree, permanent bronze plaque at the site, and perpetual care of the tree.

For further information, or to have an informational brochure mailed to you, please call our Development Director at 771-4454.

.