Ongoing Opportunities

If you're looking to make a difference in the community and connect with others who care for The Arboretum, the following opportunities are available:

Tuesday Mornings in the Ornamental Horticulture Gardens

Volunteers in the Horticultural Gardens at The Arboretum play a vital role in maintaining and enhancing the beauty and health of our diverse plant collections. Tasks may include planting, pruning, weeding, mulching, watering, and assisting with seasonal garden transitions. Volunteers help maintain the Home Demonstration Garden, which includes specialty areas like the Woodland Shade Garden, Herb Garden, and Pollinator Garden, as well as the Flight 5191 Memorial Rose Garden, the Fragrance Garden, and more.

Working alongside staff and horticultural professionals, volunteers may also support garden projects such as labeling plants, assisting with plant trials, and monitoring for pests or diseases. These activities provide hands-on learning experiences and a chance to develop horticultural skills while contributing to the care of gardens designed to inspire and educate visitors.

Whether you’re an experienced gardener or a newcomer eager to learn, volunteering in the Horticultural Gardens offers an opportunity to connect with plants, nature, and the community.

Ornamental and Horticulture Garden volunteering will begin again on Tuesday, April 8th.

Complete the volunteer agreement form below and turn it in at arboretum@uky.edu 

Volunteer Agreement Form

Wednesday Mornings in the Demonstration Vegetable Garden

Volunteers in the Vegetable Garden at The Arboretum contribute to cultivating a productive and educational space that demonstrates sustainable gardening practices. Tasks include prepping garden beds, planting, watering, weeding, mulching, harvesting produce, and composting garden waste. Volunteers may also assist in maintaining pathways and supporting the overall organization and upkeep of the garden.

This garden serves as a living classroom, so volunteers might have the opportunity to help with public programs, answer visitor questions about growing techniques, or assist with demonstrations on topics such as soil health, pest management, and companion planting.

Whether you're an experienced grower or a beginner eager to learn, volunteering in the Vegetable Garden offers a hands-on opportunity to gain practical gardening skills, connect with the local community, and support The Arboretum’s mission to educate and inspire.

Vegetable Garden volunteering will begin again on Wednesday, May 14th. 

Complete the volunteer agreement form below and turn it in at arboretum@uky.edu 

Volunteer Agreement Form

The Walk Across Kentucky Native Plants Volunteering

The Walk Across Kentucky - Native Plants volunteers play an essential role in maintaining the beauty and health of The Arboretum’s substantial native plants collection. Support for the never-ending effort to control invasive plants is a frequent objective of volunteer work projects. There is almost always a need for pulling, cutting, digging, or treating wintercreeper, bush honeysuckle, bamboo and other competitors with our native species. Also, our volunteer naturalists frequently assist staff with pest and disease prevention, hand planting of new or supplemental non-woody natives, brush removal, and several other measures for sustaining the health of our native plant collections. 

Volunteers spend much of their effort in the diverse plantings along the Walk Across Kentucky in woodlands, wetlands and prairies. In the Arboretum Woods, volunteers are instrumental in protecting the health and integrity of this valuable urban forest. 

Volunteers have a wide range of naturalist experience and knowledge and enjoy the opportunity to share their observations and experience with staff and co-volunteers. This is an educational and enjoyable opportunity for anyone passionate about environmental stewardship, conservation, and just enjoying the natural world. 

The WAKY – Native Plants volunteers will start meeting again on February 20th. Recent opportunities to volunteer with this group are limited to returning volunteers until we fill the Curator position.  If you would like to be included in our email list for notification of volunteer opportunities and specific times, please contact us by email or phone. 

Complete the volunteer agreement form below and turn it in at arboretum@uky.edu 

Volunteer Agreement Form

The Kentucky Children’s Garden

We are no longer accepting new volunteers for the 2025 season. Please check back in January.

Volunteers in the Kentucky Children’s Garden (KCG) play an important role in creating a fun and safe environment for children and their families. They assist with educational programming, supporting activities that teach children about the environment and nature in interactive and engaging ways. Volunteers also encourage exploration and guide families through the garden’s many hands-on features, such as the wading stream, fishing pond, prairie, butterfly garden, and the dig pit.

Additionally, some volunteers help with the garden-scale model trains, ensuring smooth operation during scheduled train runs. Whether you're assisting with educational programs, greeting visitors, or working with the trains, your efforts will help make the Kentucky Children’s Garden an exciting and memorable experience for all visitors.

Training Requirements:

• New volunteers must attend a 2-hour training session.
• Returning volunteers must attend a 1-hour update.
• All volunteers must undergo an initial background check before volunteering (checks are valid for 5 years).
• Pre-registration is required for training sessions. Please see our training flyer for dates and email your preference to hannah.wells@uky.edu. 

This is a wonderful opportunity for volunteers who enjoy interacting with children, sharing knowledge about nature, and supporting hands-on learning experiences.

Volunteer Agreement Form

Volunteer Opportunities as Citizen Scientists

Citizen Science programs at The Arboretum offer the opportunity to enjoy the Arboretum, learn, and work with others, while making a real contribution to global conservation efforts. Volunteer teams for these programs are formed early in the year, so watch for organizational meetings and announcements. Contact The Arboretum any time with questions.

Native Tree Phenology

Tree phenology is nature’s calendar, the timing of a tree’s seasonal activity: for example when leaves emerge, when flowers bloom, and when seed structures ripen.  Volunteers observe, on a regular basis, 26 species of native Kentucky trees in the Arboretum and record their data on a cellphone app called Nature’s Notebook.  In 2025 our volunteers ranked fourth out of 300 sites in the U.S for the total number of observations contributed.  No prior botanical or tree knowledge is necessary to join this important effort.

All data collected transfers directly to the National Phenology Network at the University of Arizona.  The network receives, analyzes, and distributes information to scientists, researchers, farmers, preserve managers, and others who need it in this time of changing climate.
 

The project will resume right before the next growing season starts.  Volunteers may observe individually or with others and on their own schedules.  For more information go to https://www.usanpn.org/ or contact The Arboretum.

The Bluebird Trail Project

In partnership with Lexington’s Wild Birds Unlimited, ten bluebird nesting boxes are maintained around The Arboretum grounds to create an official Bluebird Trail.  The boxes are located in specific habitats to help increase the declining population of cavity nesting birds.

The boxes are ready for avian occupancy and now human volunteers are needed to monitor them during nesting season in 2026.  Join The Arboretum bluebird trail team if you are interested!  Monitoring involves attending an organizational meeting, walking the route once a month, opening the boxes, and recording bird nesting activity on a provided data sheet.  All data is reported to the Cornell Laboratory’s NestWatch program.
 

The Pollinator Partnership

Declining pollinator populations are a threat to our food supply and to ecosystem health. Widespread and continuing monitoring of pollinator activity and their host plants can help find solutions.

You can contribute to a national data collection effort by joining the citizen scientist project called Pollinator Partnership at the Arboretum. Volunteers in the project observe pollinators in designated native plant areas on a regular basis and enter their findings on a cell phone app.  It is not necessary to have prior knowledge or experience.  You may observe individually or with others and on your own schedule.