~From Roots to Shoots~

Tornado Brings Destruction To Montgomery County

On September 1st, 2021 a tornado ripped through the heart of Temple Ambler’s 187-acre campus and arboretum, leaving behind a path of destruction.

Founded in 1911, the Pennsylvania School of Horticulture for Women was one of the first of its kind in the United States; teaching women how to garden and farm.

It was a pleasant surprise during cleanup to see one of the campus’ specimen trees survive the high winds. Fortunately, the campus’ state champion Turkish filbert tree, which also made it through Hurricane Sandy, was virtually untouched. A prodigious weeping beech that creates a shaded tunnel over a walkway was relatively unscathed, even though a tree just behind it had fallen on to a building. The greenhouse lost some glass panes, but all 1,600 plant species were undisturbed and three beehives were left intact.

For decades, the campus has doubled as an outdoor learning laboratory for students majoring in horticulture, landscape architecture, and engineering. Thousands of plants and trees, some more than 100 years old, were twisted at the base, felled, or so heavily damaged they had to be taken down.

Despite the extreme devastation, our arborists along with the Temple staff continue to safely and thoroughly clean up the aftermath of Ida.