Vibrant Pollinator Garden at ACTC flourishes year round

Published on Oct 2, 2024

No matter what time of year you stop by Ashland Community and Technical College’s College Drive Campus, you are guaranteed to see beautiful landscaping and wildlife. 

The Pollinator Garden that welcomes you in front of the main building was originally designed by local landscape architect, Kim Jenkins. 

“We wanted a living landscape area in front of the school that was pollinator friendly and low maintenance,” shared Paul Seasor, ACTC’s Administrative Services Director. 

The garden is made up of a variety of plants and flowers that work together to create the beautiful landscape that students, staff, faculty and guests see as they arrive at ACTC. 

Seasor says the Karl Foerster grass in the back offers some height as well as adds some interesting color and texture through every season. 

Purple and white coneflowers also make an appearance in the garden, with the purple coneflower being native to our area as well as Rudbeckia, which provides a nice yellow flower against the purple and white backdrop.

Perennial flowers are supplemented with annuals, such as Lantana and Verbena, so that there is some color even when the other perennials are fading away. 

Butterfly milkweeds are also included throughout the landscape so that the Monarch butterflies will have some habitat on their migration journey. 

“June, July, and early August are usually the best time for a visit as that is when the colors are their brightest, but you can see some sort of wildlife at almost any time you visit,” Seasor noted. 

“We are in the planning stages of adding more pollinator garden areas around each campus in the near future,” he continued. “We even had a group of students from Catlettsburg Elementary School visit recently.” 

The next time you find yourself out in the Ashland community, be sure to stop by the College Drive Campus for some guaranteed beauty to be added to your day.