COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) — The city of Columbus’ Tree Nursery, which has space to grow 11,000 trees each year, will be moving to a new property.  

“I think it’s an opportunity as well a challenge,” said Rosalie Hendon, the city forester.

The nursery is not hard to miss if driving by it. It’s just off Route 23 in south Columbus. Hendon described it as a “hidden gem.”  

The team at the nursery grows everything from seeds. Hendon said that each year, about 2,000 trees are dug out from the site and planted around the city.  

“Trees are, they’re not just something for the aesthetics of neighborhood; they’re truly an issue for our residents’ quality of life, and that’s part of why I’m so passionate,” Hendon said. “It’s really much more than just how beautiful they are; it’s about the health and wellbeing of our residents.” 

Not many cities have their own tree nurseries, according to Hendon. She said Columbus’ nursery has been on the current property since the 1960s, but it’s going to have to move because the Southerly Wastewater Treatment Plant is expanding.

“Well, we’ve never moved a nursery, to my knowledge,” Hendon said. “We’ve been here for a long time so it’ll be a process.” 

City council recently approved $97,000 for the nursery relocation project. The Smith Farm area of Three Creeks Park is one of the locations being considered. 

“We are wanting to make sure we are preparing years in advance to make sure by the time the construction starts on the wastewater treatment plant that we have the trees out and we are prepared, we don’t want to have a gap in service,” Hendon said. “Right now, we’re just at the planning stage finding our new location but we’ll need to start planting in that location while we continue to care for and dig out the trees here at this nursery.” 

The plan is to have the new nursery fully up and running in 2027. That’s when construction on the wastewater treatment plant is set to start.