The greening of Palmer

Valley Life editor

An arboretum that has been a fixture in downtown Palmer for more than 50 years has gotten a major facelift thanks to help from community members.

The arboretum -- a living museum filled with plants, flowers and trees -- is part of the University of Alaska Fairbanks Agricultural Experiment Station in downtown Palmer. It has been tucked away at its current location, without much notice, for years. Community members who worked on the project are hoping the new renovations and restoration of the area will make it more visible as a learning tool.

The arboretum is located at 533 E. Fireweed Street in Palmer, across the street from the Agriculture and Forestry Research Center. The final stages on a four-year project are wrapping up, and tomorrow, it will be dedicated as the Dr. Myron F. Babb Arboretum.

"Dr. Babb started the arboretum around 1950 and he left in 1956. Over the years, for many reasons like budget cuts, there was no professional staff, and the arboretum was kind of left on its own," said Sig Restad, a member of the Northland Pioneer Grange No. 1, a community group that has been working to restore the arboretum.

Several years ago, members of the Grange got together and enlisted the help of Future Farmers of America high school students and organized a plan to clean up the area. Through assistance from the University of Alaska Fairbanks and the FFA chapter, the project became a reality. Last year, an Arbor Day grant helped, and through the work of dedicated volunteers, the restoration was completed this summer.

"All of the volunteers -- both individuals and companies -- have been really helpful," Restad said.

All that is left to do is place identification tags on the plants and trees. The tags are being printed, and Restad said he is hopeful to have them placed before the snow hits the Valley.

The identification tags will be small, 4-inch-by-3-inch laminated tags that will hold up through the winter season, Restad said.

The work was paintstaking for the volunteers, who had to clean up years' worth of unmaintained matter.

"All the identification tags were gone, and there was dead wood everywhere," Restad said. "We did the cleanup work, all of the pruning and removed the wood that had accumulated for more than 50 years there."

There are more than 100 different species of trees and plants in the arboretum, and that is a great resource for future horticulturalists.

"We want it to be sort of an outdoor classroom where students can come and learn about horticulture," Restad said.

The restoration should also help researchers.

"We can bring species up here and plant them in the arboretum to see what kinds of plants will work here that are not indigenous to the area," Restad said. "There are many opportunities to learn from the project."

Nationally, there are arboretums in all 50 states. Many are managed by colleges and universities as research areas -- such as the one in Palmer -- but many are operated by nonprofit agencies that offer tours and garden visits.

The largest arboretum in the United States is the Holden Arboretum in Ohio. The Holden Arboretum is a living museum of forest and woodlands, meadows and display gardens, mountains and ravines, rock ledges and lakes, rivers and streams, wetland and bogs and abundant wildlife.

It encompasses more than 3,100 acres.