A year of sprucing up has paid off for Buhl Farm park as Buhl Day fast approaches. A new arboretum that was in the planning stage last Buhl Day is now planted and growing green and lush near Acker Gazebo and the sled riding hill on the east side of the park.

And the green success of the initial arboretum -- filled with Serbian and Norway spruce, red maple and red oak trees, sweet gum and Cleveland pear -- encouraged the arboretum committee to look with an eye for tree planting in other areas of the park.

"We should have some idea by Buhl Day where we want to plan out another arboretum. We've had contributions to have this done," said Pat O'Mahony, general manager of the Buhl Farm Trust. "We will have a display down by the food booths during Buhl Day."

Their project last fall started with a $50,000 anonymous donation which paid for the 92 trees planted to complete the actual arboretum. The arboretum committee has sold 67 of the trees and their perpetual care to sponsors, who get a personally-inscribed metal marker placed near the tree for $350.

The actual arboretum is 90 percent done, with a walkway and a parking area recently put in, according to O'Mahony.

"At this point, it's self-sustaining. Through the sale of the trees and contributions, it has paid for itself."

The success of the arboretum has helped grow another project idea at Buhl Farm.

"We are also involved with a wetland project down here where the upper lake used to be, north of the baseball field," said O'Mahony, adding that it was drained a year ago. "It was initially a sediment control pond for Lake Julia. It cost too much money to dredge the lake. With the wetland design, we can still keep the silt out of Lake Julia."

The project was funded through a grant from the state Department of Environmental Protection and O'Mahony hopes to see the wetland, as well as the arboretum, used as an educational tool for local schools.

"I think it would be a good place for environmental study," he said.

Plans for the wetland are almost completed. "The committee is having meetings as far as setting up the design and will also be meeting with the DEP," he said, noting the cost of the project is about $60,000.

Construction costs include redoing the dam area and creating a sediment-control basin and digging out two swales, which are small streams that need redirected, he said.

He also explained that when the pond was drained, wildlife in the pond was transplanted to another area.

"Because there was so much silt in the pond, there was very little wildlife in the pond and no room for fish. The birds could actually walk on the water in some areas," O'Mahony said. "We did have to remove a couple of snapping turtles."

Buhl Farm visitors will be able to view the present arboretum during Buhl Day and view plans for the wetlands and a second arboretum.