WEST TISBURY, Mass. – April 29, 2026 – Ian Tucker Peach has been hired as the new executive director of the Polly Hill Arboretum (PHA), succeeding the public garden’s longtime leader Timothy M. Boland, the organization’s board of directors announced today.

Mr. Peach, who lives on Chappaquiddick Island, Edgartown, is currently the director of design for Wilkinson Ecological Design, a New England firm that provides shoreline stabilization and ecological restoration aimed at protecting the biodiversity of unique natural ecosystems. Mr. Peach is the company lead for restoration ecology and large-scale land management projects in Maine and Massachusetts, including Cape Cod and the Islands.

“I am thrilled to join the community of the Polly Hill Arboretum,” said Mr. Peach. “It is a place of unique and exquisite trees, gardens, acts of science-led plant conservation and legible history, all connected by the talented staff, engaged board, and passionate volunteers. It will be my honor to lead and steward Polly Hill for its next arboreal chapter.”

Mr. Boland, after more than 20 years as executive director, will be retiring this summer from the 72-acre public garden in West Tisbury. He began work at the Arboretum as its curator in 2002 and in 2004 became its executive director.

During his stewardship, PHA evolved from the vision of acclaimed horticulturist and founder Polly Hill into an internationally recognized institution dedicated to plant conservation, education, and the preservation of its historic buildings and landscape.  PHA was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2015 and includes 25 acres of maintained landscape and another 47 acres of woodlands with trails open to the public.

“I am excited to welcome PHA’s new executive director, Ian Peach, to lead the next chapter of our institutional growth,” said Mr. Boland. “The Arboretum community of friends and supporters will appreciate his thoughtful approach in maintaining the spirit of this special place, as well as his advocacy on behalf of our core tenets of education and plant conservation, and the stewardship of our historic landscape and buildings. I look forward to watching PHA flourish in the years ahead.”

Before joining Wilkinson in 2021, Mr. Peach was the land superintendent for the Martha’s Vineyard Land Bank Commission, a job that included supervision of six fulltime staff and 20 seasonal rangers, managing a million-dollar land management budget, as well as collaborating with community, landowners and experts on management plans, overseeing a dozen agricultural leases and developing land management plans.

Polly Hill’s board of directors voted unanimously to hire Mr. Peach. It had launched the search about a year ago, when Mr. Boland announced he would be retiring in 2026, and was assisted by Cambridge-based Carolyn O’Brien Consulting. A pool of more than 30 applicants was whittled down to a few finalists early this year. Mr. Peach plans to begin work in early July.

“Ian brings a rare combination of scientific experience, operational expertise, and a personal leadership style that aligns exceptionally well with the arboretum’s mission, traditions, and aspirations for the future,” said Selena Roman, president of the Arboretum’s board of directors. “He is highly regarded for his ability to transition an organization with positivity and great regard for staff, members, the public, and the culture. His collaborative style and passion for Polly Hill will lead us well into our next chapter.”

A native of New Boston, N.H., Mr. Peach has an undergraduate degree from Middlebury College and a master’s in landscape architecture from Cornell University. He was awarded Cornell’s William Frederick Dreer research fellowship to investigate how Christchurch, New Zealand, transformed its post-earthquake spaces into thriving locations for ecology and public engagement.

Mr. Peach has also been the founder and manager of a Hancock, N.H.-based organic farm that served as a 70-family community supported agriculture (CSA) business; a landscape planning consultant for a New Hampshire company; an apprentice in land management at a 1,300-acre farm and forest in Dalton, Mass.; and an ecological park steward for the Presidio Trust in San Francisco.

He lives with his wife, Lily Walter, who runs Slip Away Farm, a flower and vegetable farm on Chappaquiddick, and their two children.