In 1975, the seed for Arboretum Norr began to grow. It was the Danish dendrologist Carl-Gustaf Thøgersen’s idea to establish the world’s northernmost arboretum in Baggböle. Carl-Gustaf, who came to Umeå University in 1974 to study, had previously worked in various arboreta and felt that northern Sweden lacked a place dedicated to botanical and dendrological science. He emphasized the importance of research material for both education and studies, but also for landscape architects, garden technicians, foresters and a wide range of educational activities in society. The location would also provide Umeå with a new recreational area where visitors could enjoy exotic tree species in the company of the river landscape.
The first plantings, mostly of conifers, were made in 1981, and shortly afterwards the Arboretum North Foundation was formed through a collaboration between Umeå Municipality, the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences and Umeå University, to manage the new arboretum.
One of the aims of the foundation was, and still is today, to collect knowledge about the hardiness and growth of trees and shrubs, with the purpose of finding hardy plant material for northern Sweden.
Former managers
As mentioned earlier, Carl Gustaf Thøgersen was the founder and first manager of the arboretum. The following years are listed below.
1987 – Jan G:son Berg
1988 – Sören Källgren
1995 – Per Nihlén
1996 – Elisabeth Öberg
2002 – Bo Nilsson
2008 – Johnny Schimmel (Current Manager)
If you want to read more about the history of Baggböle click here.