Employee Spotlight
Meet Your BTV Staff Connor Peterson: Horticulture The Butterfield Trail Village campus boasts 44 acres of a beautiful park-like setting, full of open green spaces and mature trees – as well as landscaping at every turn. Improving and maintaining such a large area requires year-round work and constant commitment from a grounds team who loves a challenge. Connor Peterson, groundskeeper crew lead with the BTV Horticulture Department, has worked at the Village for four years and knows the campus and its underlying infrastructure like the back of his hand. Connor came to Butterfield after working for landscaper The Grey Barn, where he was able to learn on the job about all kinds of commercial and residential landscaping and irrigation systems. As someone who grew up helping out on a Northwest Arkansas dairy farm owned by his godparents, Connor discovered early on he wasn’t interested in a desk job. “I love being outside, even though the temperature extremes can be tough at times,” he said. “I really enjoy learning about different plants and seeing unique things some of our residents grow here at Butterfield.” Connor’s experience with irrigation systems is an important part of his current role. The large campus has many landscaped buildings and homes to support, making water management critical for sustaining lawns, plants and trees through every season.
Connor Peterson
Over time, the horticulture and groundskeeping team has been diligently working through every component of the massive irrigation system to identify issues, replace old equipment and develop new solutions to support evolving facilities. Butterfield’s Resident Association Landscape Committee has developed a multi-year plan for beautification of the campus grounds. To ensure future landscaping plans are viable, BTV’s irrigation system has to adjust or expand in advance to be sure it can adequately support new designs. “It can be a challenge to think through future equipment needs while also maintaining what is already here, but it’s worth it when the result is something everyone can appreciate,” Connor said. Connor and his wife of three years, Kara, have a home in the countryside of the Sonora community near Beaver Lake.
10 BUTTERFIELD LIFE
MAY + JUNE 2021
