While attending the premier Landscape Construction Educational Institution in the U.K., Trinidadian Hayden Als was impressed by the Arboretum to which he was exposed during his training. An Arboretum is a place where trees are grown for either educational or artistic purpose, and its impact was not lost on young Hayden.

Subsequent to his return to his homeland, he leased 6 acres of land in the North-West peninsula of Trinidad, and set about creating an Arboretum, through the inspiration of what he had earlier experienced.

No less inspirational have been the words of the popular and well-known musical composition, Colours of the Wind… “ Run the hidden Pine Trails of the forest, taste the sun sweet berries of the Earth, Roll in all the riches around you, and for once, never wonder what they’re worth. How high does the Sycamore grow? If you cut it down, then you’ll never know! You can own the Earth, and still all you’ll own is earth, until you can paint with the colours of the wind!”

Moved by these, The Arboretum has been the proverbial ‘work in progress’ since the year 2000, developed through the skills and practice gained at Merrist Wood Agricultural College in Surrey, England, and on numerous projects in Trinidad and Tobago over 40 years.

Sculpting the existing forest and vegetation, and adding further foliage where needed, the result has been a garden space of covering and sheltering sheds, of solid floors, amid stands of bamboo growth and trees, and all against the backdrop of the Northern Range.

The facility, known as The Arboretum, was opened to the public in 2003, and is fed by spring water from the adjoining higher elevation, while nature trails fan out in all directions from the site.

As an environmentally-conscious event space in Chaguaramas, the tall stands of bamboo are a haven for birds and other animal wild life, typically howler monkeys and capuchin monkeys, as well as butterflies and indigenous vegetation.