The route is composed of 13 stops, the last of them connected to the arboretum via a footbridge. Credit: MENDELU.
Brno, Aug 19 (BD) – The Stezka Chvála educational trail, planted with both domestic and exotic trees, starts at the square in Křtiny and ends in the nearby Křtiny Arboretum. The route, which is approximately two kilometres long, is lined with benches and educational boards, and the trees are equipped with information tags. The route is composed of 13 stops; between the 13th stop and the Křtiny Arboretum, the Křtiny Forest School Enterprise (ŠLP Křtiny) built a new bridge and footpath, which will enable visitors to safely reach the arboretum gate.
“The stops are devoted to the individual types of trees, namely birch, hornbeam, ash, oak, maple, fir, spruce, crane, lime, beech, pine, larch and a mixture of exotics,” said Petra Packová, the arboretum manager of ŠLP Křtiny. “Each site has about 10 different species of a given genus, which is excellent from an educational standpoint. This allows visitors to compare the species in one place and find out the differences between them. We have now also tagged the trees with tags that tell passers-by the Czech and Latin names of the species.”
The trail was inaugurated after 15 years. The planting of trees at the individual stops started in the spring of 2008. The nature trail is the original brainchild of the late garden architect, Ivar Otruba. The idea was subsequently elaborated by students of the Faculty of Horticulture at Mendel University, under the guidance of Milan Rajnoch and in cooperation with ŠLP Křtiny.
The trail did not have a completed route to the Křtiny Arboretum until this year. “On the trail it is necessary to cross the flowing stream, which we have solved with a wooden bridge, which looks very natural in the landscape,” said Jitka Fialová from the Institute of Engineering, Landscape Design and Conservation at MENDELU, who was involved in the implementation of the trail. “The last part of the path runs along a busy road. In the end, the option of moving the original fence of the arboretum a few metres and building a wooden barrier along the road was the solution.”
The opening ceremony of the completed Stezka Chvála nature trail took place yesterday, 18 August 2023, at the Křtiny Arboretum.
