Arboretum shows beauty of learning

    There is more to a plant than meets the eye, and the goal of a planned arboretum at Pullen Farm is to demonstrate that.
    The non-acre arboretum will offer students and community members the opportunity to view and learn about regional and national plant species.
    Pat Williams, associate professor of agriculture science and head of horticulture in the School of Agriculture, said the arboretum will amount to more than just a pretty display.
    “We will have a blending of a botanical garden and an arboretum,” Williams said. “Part of the arboretum will be for aesthetic enjoyment and the other part will be for research.”
    He said the arboretum will house a variety of plants - including trees, ground covers and flowers - appealing to the eye and mind, as the arboretum will double as an education and research garden.
    The arboretum officially started during Homecoming in 2008, but Williams said the idea was planted several years before.
    “When I arrived in 2001, (agriculture officials) said they wanted an arboretum,” he said.
    Since that time, the idea has blossomed into a tangible arboretum through the efforts of Williams and others in the agriculture department.
    During the last Homecoming, those working with the arboretum launched Friends of the Arboretum.
    The group invites green-thumbed members of the community to help with the arboretum through volunteer work, membership and donations.
    Heather Blankenship, lecturer and greenhouse complex manager, said the Kentucky Agriculture Development Fund provided $80,000, the initial funding for the arboretum.    
    However, more funding is needed as the arboretum is always evolving, Williams said. Only about 33 percent of the sidewalk around the arboretum - which costs about $40,000 - has been poured.
    Other costs include irrigation, electrical systems and staff wages.
    “The more the garden grows, the more the maintenance cost will be,” Williams said.
    Current Murray State students perform most of the labor with the arboretum and Pullen Farm, together working about 80 hours per week in the greenhouses alone.
    “We could not do what we do without our students,” Williams said.
    Stacy Bridges, senior from Hopkinsville, Ky., said she performs a variety of daily tasks, such as planting bulbs, weeding and developing the arboretum.
    “Last summer I stayed here and worked (at Pullen Farm),” she said. “I helped with some of the plantings, and I got some of the horticulture club members to help plant.”
    She said she hopes the efforts of all involved do not go to waste.
    “I want to see the arboretum attract more horticulture people and help them create a passion for it and get involved,” Bridges said.
    The completed arboretum will have five major parts: Display and Community garden, Oak/Hickory Forest and Wetlands, Open Prairie, Open Woodlands, and Savanna.
    The arboretum is free and open to the public.
    To join Friends of the Arboretum, call 877-282-0033. Memberships are $25 per person, $5 for students, $35 for families and $100 for clubs, organizations and sponsors.
    Contact Cash at laura.cash@murraystate.edu.