Collington lakeside dock under blooming spring trees.

May 4, 2021 (MITCHELLVILLE, Md.) — The 125-acre campus of Collington Life Plan Community, a Kendal Affiliate in Mitchellville, Maryland, has been awarded Level One Accreditation as an arboretum by the ArbNet Arboretum Accreditation Program. Collington earned the accreditation for meeting ArbNet’s set of professional practice standards for arboreta and botanic gardens. The ArbNet Arboretum Accreditation Program is the only global initiative to officially recognize arboreta at various levels of development, capacity and professionalism.

Level One Accreditation aligns with Collington’s goal of labeling all trees within the arboretum and adding more walking paths. Plans for the arboretum also include hosting field trips for local students and youth groups, and tours for members of the community.

In addition to the Level One Accreditation, the Collington campus is now recognized as an accredited arboretum in the Morton Register of Arboreta, a database of the world’s arboreta and gardens dedicated to woody plants.

Collington’s campus provides the senior living community’s residents with a scenic environment for exercise and to find peace and relaxation in nature. Community members may walk through the campus’s grounds and observe more than 100 different species and varieties of trees.

“We at Collington are excited to receive this accreditation and for the prospect of further improving the arboretum through this recognition,” said Anne Gillespie, Collington’s CEO. “We hope to offer our residents new spaces to be outdoors and enjoy nature, and plan to expand the arboretum to welcome more members of the Mitchellville community. We deeply value the serenity that can be found on Collington’s campus, especially during these stressful times.”  

For more information about Collington Life Plan Community, call 301-925-7707.

About Collington Life Plan Community, a Kendal Affiliate

Collington is a not-for-profit, full-service Life Plan Community (also known as a Continuing Care Retirement Community) affiliated with Kendal. The community, which opened in 1988, is situated on 125 acres of gently rolling countryside, featuring a six-acre lake, native trees, walking trails and gardens, in suburban Prince George’s County, Maryland. Natural parkland owned by the state of Maryland borders the eastern edge of the campus. The campus is roughly 12 miles east of downtown Washington, D.C., and 22 miles west of Annapolis, Maryland. Collington consists of 330 independent living residences, including cluster-cottages, villas and a three-story apartment building.

About Kendal

Founded on Quaker principles and guided by its Values and Practices, Kendal provides independent living, assisted living, memory support, skilled nursing and rehabilitation care in eight states. Kendal-affiliated retirement communities are in Hanover, New Hampshire; Ithaca and Sleepy Hollow, New York; Northampton and Easthampton, Massachusetts; Lexington, Virginia; metro Washington, D.C.; Chicago; Kennett Square, West Chester and Newtown, Pennsylvania; and Oberlin and Granville, Ohio. Enso Village, a Zen-inspired Life Plan Community, currently is under development in Healdsburg, California. Kendal at Home, based in suburban Cleveland, combines the security of a continuing care retirement community with the freedom and independence of living at home.

About ArbNet
ArbNet is an interactive, collaborative, international community of arboreta. ArbNet facilitates the sharing of knowledge, experience, and other resources to help arboreta meet their institutional goals and works to raise professional standards through the ArbNet Arboretum Accreditation Program. The accreditation program, sponsored and coordinated by The Morton Arboretum in Lisle, Illinois in cooperation with American Public Gardens Association and Botanic Gardens Conservation International, is the only global initiative to officially recognize arboreta based on a set of professional standards. The program offers four levels of accreditation, recognizing arboreta of various degrees of development, capacity and professionalism. Standards include planning, governance, public access, programming and tree science, planting and conservation. More information is available at www.arbnet.org.