Deerwood Arboretum and Nature Center is a lovely park in Brentwood, Tennessee, and the finest example of “Reduce, Reuse, Recycle” I’ve ever seen outside of an Auntie Litter song.
- Deerwood is a Level 2 state certified Arboretum through the Tennessee Urban Forestry Council.
- The Arboretum site was once used as a wastewater treatment plant by the city.
- There are over 60 species that line the paved and unpaved walking trails.
- It is located on 27 acres that borders the Little Harpeth River.
Deerwood showcases native trees, migratory birds, butterflies and other wildlife. The park features bike paths and jogging trails, ponds, a wildflower meadow and a Nature Center Complex with an outdoor classroom. There are also restrooms, information kiosks and a small amphitheater. An educational curriculum is available for use by schools and service groups.
The bathrooms are clean. The water fountain works, but is wet rather than cold.
Deerwood Arboretum is also the setting of my current fantasy WIP, “Fair Folk and Foul Folk.” The park looks like it ought to be home to pixies, dryads, and members of the Seelie Court. (I did not personally see any such beings, but the park looked like the sort of place they’d enjoy.) When I learned the park was the former site of the Brentwood sewage processing plant, I couldn’t help wondering if any Unseelie creatures lingered. Did the two groups fight turf wars or politely pretend to ignore each other? Did they meet at the amphitheater under the full moon and argue by Robert’s Rules of Order?
In some areas it looks more like the Little Harpeth Creek than the Little Harpeth River. I predict the water level will rise after the next good rain.
Recommended Reading
If you’re concerned about parks becoming sewage centers, you might want to read B Cubed Press‘ Alternative Apocalypses.
If you like feminist poetry, you might like Gwyndyn Alexander’s Digging Up My Bones.
If you want me to get a few pennies of royalty money, please buy a copy of Alternative Truths, which contains my Darrell Award-nominated story “As Prophesied of Old.” Or go to the Medium.com link above and clap for my story. As you can see in the pictures below, I have medical bills to pay off. But I’m out of the wheelchair and I’m not dead yet.
