A year after College of Western Idaho (CWI) opened its Student Arboretum with a community Arbor Day tree-planting event, the site has become an outdoor classroom, sustainability project, and growing community resource.
Located near the College’s Agricultural Sciences Complex in Nampa, the arboretum opened April 16, 2025, when more than 150 students, faculty, volunteers, and community partners planted about 40 trees representing more than 20 species. Over the last year, the arboretum has added a few more trees, with long-term plans to eventually grow to double that number.
Since last spring, the arboretum has become a central part of the College’s Horticulture Technology program. Students now use the space in Plant Propagation and Management (HRTC 108), Landscape Management: Irrigation (HRTC 152), Landscape Plants (HRTC 203), Landscape Management: Installation (HRTC 204), Integrated Pest Management (HRTC 255), and other courses.
“Hands-on experience is what our industry partners want from our graduates,” said Assistant Professor of Horticulture, Dan Schults. “You can talk about pruning or irrigation in a classroom, but it is completely different when students are outside working with real trees, real turf, and real irrigation systems.”
The arboretum was originally designed by students in CWI’s Landscape Design I (HRTC 256) course and installed by Horticulture Technology alumni, Ramiro Villafana, who now owns his own landscape company, Luxury Lawn Care.
“It is inspiring for the students,” Schults said. “They see that students really designed this and that a former student built it. It helps them picture what they can do after they leave here.”
One of the newest additions to the arboretum is a Douglas fir “moon tree,” grown from a seed that traveled into space and back before being planted at CWI. The tree was donated to the College after Horticulture Technology students toured a U.S. Forest Service nursery.
Students are also helping inventory every tree in the arboretum. Horticulture Technology student, Kaylie Reed, is using GPS-based software provided through the Idaho Department of Lands to map each tree and record its species, size, and condition.
The project supports CWI’s designation as a Tree Campus Higher Education institution and is part of the College’s effort to become a nationally recognized arboretum. The College's Agriculture Sciences Department is working to make sure there are signage, records, and maintenance plans in place.
The arboretum also showcases lower-water landscaping options. Two alternative turf varieties now growing at the site use significantly less water than traditional Kentucky bluegrass while requiring less mowing and maintenance.
“It’s always been one of our focuses to just get hands-on and real-world experience,” Schults said. “Having outdoor labs where students can go dig out a sprinkler head and replace it, see different turf examples, or learn how to prune trees, those are things that you can’t teach in a classroom.”
