Vernon Hills' Century Park receives official accreditation as an arboretum
When he started as parks foreman in January 2015, Rick Krocza had a somewhat surprising goal for Century Park in Vernon Hills.
The park already was a marquee destination in the Vernon Hills Park District, but Krocza envisioned it as an accredited arboretum - an educational element to complement the park's many recreational offerings.
"I knew it was a big park and knew it was a candidate," he said.
Now, his dream has been realized. The park district learned last week that its application for official recognition as an arboretum has been accepted by the ArbNet Arboretum Accreditation Program.
Vernon Hills is Illinois' first park district to receive the designation from the global program established in 2011 by the renowned Morton Arboretum.
"The (Morton) arboretum emailed me with congratulations," Krocza said. "I've been waiting in great anticipation of it coming. It took four weeks, but I was elated."
Getting to the application stage was a long process of identifying what trees were in the park and planting many more species to create a diversified collection.
In a tour during his first week, Krocza identified 60 species in the park. With the help of district arborist James Schubert and Graf Tree Care, existing tree species were inventoried through GIS tracking to identify how many more were needed for designation as an arboretum.
Over three planting seasons, the number of species of mainly trees, along with some woody shrubs, has increased to about 120, Krocza said. Only a few more species of trees, including the pink cascade weeping peach, need to be planted this season, but work to enhance the arboretum offerings will continue for years.
Sue Paist, ArbNet coordinator, has said the designation is considered an educational tool meant to set apart those that receive it.
There are four levels of accreditation, with Morton considered a Level IV. Vernon Hills is a Level II.
Dog tag-style designations that have been placed on trees will remain. But the park district is considering installing small signs on posts with a QR code to link visitors to a website with information on a given type of tree.
"That's our next phase in a nutshell," Krocza said. "We're developing how to set up the tree tags for the public to find easier and utilize the QR system."
Krocza said the arboretum is a laboratory of sorts to determine what types of trees can work in this climate and share the knowledge with visitors.
How best to inform people about the arboretum and draw them to it also is being discussed. Educational programs and tours will be offered at some point.
Century Park was developed in 1976 on 113 acres north of Route 60 at Lakewood Drive. It is the largest site in the park district.
Besides two lakes used for fishing, sailing and other activities, there are nearly 3 miles of trails, a sled hill, athletic fields and a cricket pitch, among other amenities.