Secrest Arboretum

The 115 acre Secrest Arboretum is located at the Ohio Agricultural Research and Development Center at The Ohio State University in Wooster. Each year, thousands of people enjoy and learn from Secrest Arboretum.

Secrest Arboretum contains over 2,000 native and introduced species and cultivars of trees, shrubs, and other plants. It was established in 1909 when Edmund Secrest set out the first planting for a proposed Forest Arboretum. In the 1940s, the arboretum became one of the first places in the United States to plant a Dawn Redwood.

Secrest features the nation’s largest collections of crabapples, which blossom spectacularly in April and May. The Roses of Legend and Romance Garden features more than 500 heirloom rose varieties.

Guided tours are available or you can wander through the grounds on a self-guided tour.

Secrest Arboretum
1680 Madison Avenue
Wooster, Ohio 44691
(330) 263-3761

Edmund Secrest

Dr. Secrest was Ohio's first State Forester and became director of the OARDC in 1937. In addition to developing many of Ohio's re-forestation programs, Secrest developed the Wooster Arboretum, which was dedicated to him and received his name in 1950.

Today the Secrest Arboretum is known as one of the finest long-term plant repositories in the United States. It was through Secrest's efforts that Ohio passed a 1915 law enabling the state to acquire scenic lands to be used for reforestation and recreation. Today those lands make up many of Ohio's state forests.

Secrest Arboretum in Wooster, Ohio

The Larwill brothers, together with William Henry and John Bever, first staked claims to land that today makes up the heart of downtown Wooster (which was named for General David Wooster, a Revolutionary War officer from Connecticut) in 1808.

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