When Penn employee Nidhi Tandon received a free tree from the University through its annual Creating Canopy program in 2025, she shared why she wanted to take advantage of the program after moving to a new home and neighborhood with limited trees. 

“I miss my old maple tree that used to give us ample shade during the hot summers. My hope is, one day this tree will provide the same sense of joy to my grandchildren as they spend many a hot summer under its shady branches!” 

Like many at Penn, Tandon appreciates trees not only for their ecological utility, but also for their longevity and the joy they bring to the landscape. And that’s exactly the aim of Penn’s Landscape Architecture, Urban Park and Morris Arboretum Urban Forestry teams, tasked with planning and caring for Penn’s trees and the campus' urban canopy.  

For 17 consecutive years, Penn has earned Tree Campus Higher Education recognition for its commitment to tree health and conservation. In 2024, two southern live oaks on campus—grown from Morris Arboretum-collected seeds planted in 2017—were named State Champions as Pennsylvania’s largest of their kind, reflecting Penn’s climate‑resilient landscape planning as the region’s conditions shift toward those of Richmond, Virginia. 

The awards highlight the dedicated work required to maintain the thousands of trees in Penn’s urban forest, which is also an accredited arboretum. From planning for ecological balance and resilience across the campus to investing in routine and innovative care of its trees, Penn’s landscape professionals are ensuring the campus is beautiful, sustainable, and healthy for years to come. 

Planning for the Future 

Photo Credit: Penn Facilities & Real Estate Services  

“This year, we are building on existing practices and also introducing new steps to care for our trees,” says Brent Lewis, university landscape architect. “When we plan for the year ahead, we are thinking even more about our soil health, root growth, species diversity, and climate resilience. Simply speaking, our goal is to make campus as beautiful as we can, both tomorrow and for years to come. However, a lot of planning and work goes into that.” 

The efforts align with Penn’s Climate & Sustainability Action Plan 4.0 (CSAP 4.0), which includes University goals that address climate resilience and protection of the campus while advancing Philadelphia’s goals for tree canopy expansion, urban heat reduction, cleaner air, and biodiversity, including a bird‑friendly campus. According to landscape planner Chloe Cerwinka, “Our work is inspired by Penn’s Ecological Landscape Stewardship Plan (ELSP), and at the end of the day it’s really about looking at the campus landscape as a whole. We’re always thinking about how we can work together to show the many ways our urban forest supports both people and wildlife.” 

Key to any planning and tree care is deciding which new trees to plant and how to care for young trees in an evolving environment. “We are seeing an increase in drought damage, as well as an increase in wind damage to our trees, both caused by a changing climate,” says Lewis. In 2026 already, landscapers have planted species that can thrive, provide extra resilience that matches the changing local weather patterns, and create habitats for wildlife. These trees include the live oak near the new Weitzman Hall and the southern red oaks at Smith Walk. Using research data, Penn is further investing in future species resilience.   

Investing in Ongoing Maintenance and Health 

Photo Credit: Penn Facilities & Real Estate Services  

Caring for these new trees—along with nearly 6,000 across campus—requires ongoing management to help them withstand stressors such as heat, disease, construction‑related soil compaction, and improper planting that can lead to girdled roots. This year, Penn advanced that work through an innovative soil research project that builds on earlier testing of a more sustainable soil mix for urban environments. The new mix replaces traditional sand and gravel with recycled glass from the campus waste stream, incorporates biochar to improve water retention and sequester carbon, and uses campus-sourced compost. By studying trees planted in this soil alongside control plantings, Penn will evaluate tree performance and the feasibility of closing waste loops and advancing sustainable solutions. 

Guided by the ELSP, Penn’s Landscape Architecture and Urban Park teams also piloted an expanded “leave the leaves” initiative last autumn, leaving fallen leaves in carefully chosen campus areas as an eco‑friendly alternative to collection. Benefits of the practice include increasing bird and insect diversity, reducing dependence on synthetic fertilizers, supporting soil structure, and suppressing weeds. In 2026, campus will be analyzed again for leaf suitability and an educational outreach will be coupled with this effort.  

This year, Penn also revised and expanded the functionality of Penn Plant Explorer, a geo-spatial tool used to track the location and maintenance history of the university’s trees. With base information accessible to the public, the platform helps students identify campus species. On the facilities-accessible side, it enables "informed maintenance" for landscaping teams, allowing them to track tree health and maintenance history, streamline decisions regarding disease treatment and pruning schedules to mitigate hazards, and identify canopy gaps to better combat urban heat islands and flooding. 

Reclaiming Wood

Photo Credit: Weitzman School of Design 

Tree removal and replacement are also critical considerations in Penn’s tree care, with its arboretum and Campus Tree status requiring that the University take the entire urban forest into account as it makes decisions about individual trees. Annually, tree removals occur for multiple reasons, ranging from safety considerations and the declining health or age of trees to the need for campus improvement projects. Either way, trees are only removed when absolutely necessary, and replacement trees are carefully selected and made a priority.  

A second life is given to some removed trees that are repurposed. The honey locusts removed from Smith Walk in 2025, for instance, had begun to decline—an outcome more common in single‑species plantings, which, while often chosen for their visual uniformity, can be more susceptible to pests and disease. Following the removal of all but one of these trees due to declining health, Penn’s urban forestry experts reclaimed usable wood for future projects, while the remaining material will be turned into mulch for University grounds. 

Reclaimed wood has been creatively reused both on and off campus, serving as a “nurse log” in the Gutmann College House rain garden, a bench at Penn Alexander School, picture frames, and a commemorative ping pong paddle set presented to donor Stuart Weitzman at the reopening of Stuart Weitzman Hall. Building on these efforts, student Eco-Reps partnered with assistant landscape planner Daniel Flinchbaugh in 2026 to construct bee boxes, Bio Pond planting pot feet, and a Clark Park stake installation—projects that will help guide future strategies for expanding circularity and material reuse across campus 

“I love trees,” says Flinchbaugh. “I love the radical optimism of planting a tree for a future generation’s shade, the beauty of the spring blooms, and the relief of a cool summer canopy. But I also see their potential after their time standing is over. They can become school play areas, backyard sanctuaries, or even habitat for wildlife. By turning them into everyday items like picture frames and cutting boards, we keep the story of a favorite tree alive in as many ways as possible.” 

Ultimately, Penn stewards an ever evolving, high performance, and multi-functional urban forest on a world-renowned campus. And with proper planning now, campus will continue to thrive for generations to come.