By Melissa Payne

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The Arboretum will celebrate Arbor Day with “Party for the Planet” throughout the month of April.

Party for the Planet is a series of three events celebrating the past, present and future of Kentucky’s plant life. “Kentucky’s Present,” the second event, will take place on Sunday from 1 to 4 p.m. at the Arboretum.

According to the Arboretum’s website, the goal of the event is to identify plants that are non-native to Kentucky, explain how these plants are a threat and teach attendees how to maintain these non-native plants.

Molly Davis, the Arboretum director, said many non-native plants like Bush honeysuckle and the Winter Creeper are often mistaken for native species.

“[The Bush honeysuckle] spreads and shades out other plants,” Davis said. The plant is easy to spread through, for example, birds eating the plant and transporting its seeds elsewhere.

“We want to have an event to teach people what our landscape looks like and how to take care of it,” Davis said.

After the event, volunteers from UK’s Department of Forestry will help remove some of the non-native plants within the Arboretum.

Nic Williamson, a graduate student in UK’s Department of Forestry and a member of the Arboretum planning committee, will lead the volunteer project to help eradicate the non-native plants within the Arboretum.

Williamson said the volunteer project will begin in the large ephemeral wetland that comes and goes during the wet season, located behind the Arboretum forest.

“We hope to eradicate non-native species in the wetland like the Bradford pear tree and the Bush honeysuckle,” Williamson said.

He encouraged students to join the volunteer project at 3:30 p.m. after “Kentucky Present.”

Davis said the event will happen regardless of the weather and attendees should dress appropriately. There will be a guided tour of the Bluegrass Region, then of the Arboretum, she added.