What do a college campus, a park, a hospital care facility and a Natural Resources District lake have in common?
They're all part of the Nebraska Statewide Arboretum — public gardens designed for active use, sustainability and beauty.
Free public tours will be given Thursday and Friday at community arboretums in Blair and Pender, the Wayne State College campus, Maskenthine State Recreation Area near Stanton and Gilman Park in Pierce.
Each tour will end with the planting of a tree. Tour dates, times and details:
Thursday
Maskenthine Arboretum at Maskenthine State Recreation Area near Stanton: 10 a.m. at the parking lot east of lake; diverse collection of trees, conifers and shrubs, particularly viburnums; trial garden showcases perennials and trees started from small seedlings.
Wayne State College Arboretum: 1:30 p.m. near Parking Lot 6 on the east side of campus; trees and landscapes, including a nice selection of firs, spruces and pines.
Gilman Park Arboretum in Pierce: 5 p.m. at the arboretum entrance; one of the best botanical gardens in the state with 300 different varieties of trees, shrubs, perennials and grasses, even after portions of the garden stood under water six days in the 2010 flood.
Friday
Pender Community Arboretum: 9:30 a.m. at Pender Community Hospital, 603 Earl St.; every landscape has different priorities, design and maintenance based on the ages and abilities of those using it. The ballfield area is tough and low-maintenance; school landscapes are designed as outdoor classrooms; and the hospital and care facility areas are designed for beauty and restoration.
Blair Community Arboretum: 1:30 p.m. at Steyer Park; some unusual trees, a very narrow sugar maple, State Champion shumard oak and many others.
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