The separate areas allow the Arboretum to create different learning events based on different parts of Kentucky.

The Arboretum was created in 1991, at which time it was overrun with non-native invasive plants such as honeysuckle and wintercreeper.

The removal of such invasive plants has been and continues to be a major goal of Arboretum staff and volunteers.

[3] In 1994, the Children's Garden was thought of, then ten years later a conceptual design was drawn, and construction began in 2007.

In 1968 the Natural Resources Conservative Service of the US Department of Agriculture mapped the soil as mostly Maury silt loam.

Also, in the 1950s the Forestry Department at the University of Kentucky put up a fence to exclude cattle and also be able to track undisturbed growth.