..Medford Leas
..Administration Website

Medford Leas..
Residents Website..

 

 

 

 

 

.Barton Arboretum
.and Nature Preserve

.Welcome to the Barton Arboretum
.of Medford Leas

The Barton Arboretum and Nature Preserve of Medford Leas is a unique blend of accessible public gardens, collections, and preserved natural areas set amidst private residential space. With campuses in Medford and Lumberton, NJ spanning more than 200 acres, the Arboretum offers visitors a diverse horticultural array of designed gardens, landscaped grounds, meadows, natural woodlands and wetlands, and one of the most extensive plant collections — including natives — in all of southern New Jersey.

Mission
The Arboretum’s mission is to promote the appreciation and knowledge of horticulture and to emphasize the importance of integrating nature into people’s living, working and recreational environments. Further, the Arboretum strives to be a model for good land stewardship by achieving greater ecological responsibility through bio-diverse and sustainable practices.

The Estaugh, a Quaker-related, not-for-profit corporation, founded Medford Leas in 1971 as a residential and healthcare community which today is home to over 600 residents age 55 and older. As part of its mission, the Estaugh chose to create a community in harmony with nature. In 1981, the Estaugh Board, under the leadership of its president, Lewis W. Barton, along with Lois Forrest, the then Executive Director of Medford Leas, and Paul W. Meyer, The F. Otto Haas Director of the Morris Arboretum, designated the entire acreage as an arboretum.

"The Early Arboretum" by Beth Bogie, editor of Medford Leas Life.