Brandon George, Kenton County Horticulture Agent

Kenton County Cooperative Extension’s Arboretum Tour

On Saturday, June 8^th, the Kenton County horticulture agent delivered the first public tour of the arboretum at the extension office. Fifteen people, including adults and children, attended the two-hour tour that included highlighted features such as the no-mow lawn, meadows, and pollinator garden, that showcased the diversity of plant species, as well as the commitment to sustainable practices on site. As a young and new arboretum, it’s important to increase the visibility to local Kenton County residents so they can see efforts that their tax money supports as well as take advantage of the opportunities of this site. As the arboretum is a place of both education and recreation open to the public, greater efforts are now being made to promote the site which is still relatively unknown as a public arboretum. Private tours have been given to groups that have reached out, but this was the first effort to provide a tour to anyone wanting to come. The addition of a beehive this spring from a 4-H lead effort will benefit from the pollen and nectar resources that the meadows on site will provide, with the hope that honey can be harvested in the future.

One individual, Fred Hall, owner of Recovery Range Co., a nonprofit that “provides support to individuals and families in recovery from alcohol and drug abuse” attended the tour with his family. Fred states that “Recovery Range helps people and families working to rebuild bonds during recovery. The organization does a range of activities such as hiking, bird-washing and fishing.” (Spectrum News) It was his first time to the extension office and arboretum, and he was surprised to learn about the breadth of programs that cooperative extension provides. He hopes to attend more programming offers in the future that would be of interest to the members of his group, especially those focused on nature-based activities that aid in recovery that the arboretum can be a resource for.