A patch of ground roughly the size of a tennis court at the corner of Aurora and Liberty roads in Solon now holds about 1,100 native trees and shrubs across as many as 32 species, densely packed into a plot covering roughly 333 square yards. City officials say the newly planted mini forest is designed to grow into a layered, self-sustaining woodland that manages stormwater, supports wildlife, and strengthens the local tree canopy.
A Dense Planting Method Built for Speed
The project, first reported by Cleveland.com, was completed with help from volunteers across Solon and organizations throughout Northeast Ohio. The planting follows a technique developed by botanist Akira Miyawaki, who pioneered densely planting diverse native species to establish a layered woodland in a small footprint. Research from the College of the Environment at Western Washington University explains that this dense planting spurs sunlight competition among saplings, allowing them to grow up to 10 times faster than conventional plantings and reach a mature ecosystem in 20 to 30 years rather than the 150 to 200 years nature typically requires — though the method demands intensive soil preparation and close care for the first two to three years before the forest becomes self-sustaining.
Solon Mayor Edward Kraus called the project a tangible investment in the city's future, according to the report. The mini forest is expected to provide food and shelter for birds, pollinators, and other wildlife, while also supporting biodiversity and improving soil health, per the same account.
Rooted in Trees Brings Its Zoo Model to a City Street Corner
Solon partnered with Rooted in Trees, a Northeast Ohio nonprofit focused on restoring and preserving the region's tree canopy, to design and plant the forest. The organization's founder, Paul Abbey, said the planting creates the foundation for a living ecosystem that will benefit the Solon community for decades. Abbey, a former wealth management executive whose wife Constance Norweb Abbey descends from Holden Arboretum founder Albert F. Holden, turned to tree advocacy after selling his firm, according to Voyage Ohio Magazine.
This is not Rooted in Trees' first mini forest. In October 2024, the nonprofit partnered with Cleveland Metroparks Zoo to build the nation's first mini forest inside a zoo, planting roughly 850 native saplings and shrubs across 33 species in a tennis court-sized plot near Big Creek, as FreshWater Cleveland reported at the time. That project engaged local eighth graders and horticulturists in building a multi-layered pocket forest. Abbey's philanthropic reach has since grown further: in April, he and his wife donated a seven-figure gift to establish the campus-wide Abbey Arboretum at the College of Wooster, supporting stewardship of roughly 2,800 trees across 240 acres, according to the college.
Volunteers From Schools, Garden Clubs, and Retirement Communities Pitched In
The Solon planting drew a wide range of hands. Cleveland.com reported that the Solon Green Team, Solon High School Green Team, Kendal at Oberlin's grounds and horticulture team, Holden Forests & Gardens, and the Garden Club of Cleveland all participated, while Kurtz Bros. Landscape Supply provided topsoil, mulch, and wood chips for the site.
Part of a Bigger Push to Reconnect Solon
The mini forest sits within the Aurora and Liberty roads corridor, which now includes a multiuse path and pedestrian connections meant to give residents more opportunities for walking and biking, per the original report. That corridor work ties into Solon Connects, the city's broader plan to improve links among neighborhoods, businesses, civic destinations, and open spaces. The City of Solon launched Solon Connects in January 2020 after securing grant funding from the Cuyahoga County Planning Commission to convert auto-centric thoroughfares into walkable, bike-friendly corridors, according to Cleveland Magazine. The plan won a Best Small Jurisdiction Plan award in 2021 for its focus on multi-modal connectivity and green space integration.
Solon's downtown redevelopment also links to the Headwaters Connector Greenway, a 7-mile paved multi-use trail along a former rail corridor connecting Solon, Aurora, and Bainbridge Township into the regional Towpath Trail network across Cuyahoga, Geauga, and Portage counties. That comes as Hoodline reported that Cleveland Metroparks is building a separate rails-to-trails connection between Solon and Chagrin Falls, with completion targeted for 2027.
Why Canopy Loss Makes This Matter
The mini forest lands amid a longer story of vanishing tree cover across Cuyahoga County. The county lost 6.1% of its tree canopy between 2011 and 2017 — falling from 37.0% to 34.7% coverage and representing roughly 6,600 acres — driven by real estate development, storm damage, and invasive species like the emerald ash borer, according to the Cuyahoga County Planning Commission. A 2024 study led by Baldwin Wallace University researchers, reported by 91.7 WVXU, found the county's forest cover collapsed from 98.7% before European settlement to just 12% around 1900 due to agricultural clearing, before recovering to 25% and slipping back to 21% by 2021.
Cuyahoga County has responded with its own funding push. Through its Healthy Urban Tree Canopy grant program, established in 2019 under the county's Climate Change Action Plan, the county has awarded more than $5 million to support municipal tree planning and reforestation, resulting in over 11,000 trees planted as of 2025, according to Cuyahoga County. Solon's new mini forest adds one more entry to that growing tally, planted at ground level at the corner of Aurora and Liberty roads.
