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      Garden Tour

      Trees Through Time: A Tree Trek Through Salem’s McIntire District

      Copper beech tree in the Ropes Mansion Garden

      Know before you go

      In-person
      Location: Meet at the Ropes Mansions Garden (318 Essex Street)

      Free for members, $10 nonmembers; preregistration required.
      This program includes a half-mile neighborhood walk. Please wear comfortable shoes and dress for the weather. The rain date for this event will be Sunday, May 3

      Join PEM Horticulturist and Massachusetts Certified Arborist Patrick Cheney for a walking tour through Salem’s historic McIntire District to uncover the rich stories rooted in the city’s trees. Drawing on garden documentation from the 1890s, this guided walk will highlight remarkable specimens in and around PEM’s Ropes Mansion Garden, including a majestic 350-year-old oak, towering tulip trees and other historic plantings.

      Along the way, compare archival images of the trees with how they appear today and discover how Salem’s historic landscape has grown and evolved over more than a century. Learn how the city’s horticultural past continues to shape its present, and how stewardship today will influence Salem’s landscape for generations to come.

      At the conclusion of the program, each participant will receive a complimentary redbud or river birch sapling to take home and plant — the start of your own horticultural legacy.

      Did you know that PEM is a Level II Arboretum? Explore our plantings and garden spaces.

      This program is part of PEM’s Salem 400+ series celebrating the city’s 400-year history. Learn more and get involved at pem.org/salem400.

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