Urban parks in Lexington Kentucky contain many trees that were growing long before the parks were established. It is common for parks to include large, old trees, but these usually were planted after estalishment of the parks. In Lexington, most urban parks in the older parts of town were small parts of large estates. The estates were gradually developed into neighborhoods, and the parks are the mansions of the old estates and the grounds around them. Click on the picture for a gallery of ancient trees in urban parks, or scroll down to read more.
These trees were here long before the settlement of the Bluegrass, but today they are declining because of old age, soil compaction, mower damage and the other abuses of urban life. Venerable Trees, Inc is beginning a project to inventory the ancient trees and assess their condition. We will also begin working with the Parks and Recreation Department to begin planting replacement trees of the same species.
Parks in Lexington with ancient trees include Castlewood Park, Duncan Park, Coolavin Park, Ecton Park, Woodland Park, Masterson Station Park, McConnell Springs Park and Veterans Park. We will not know how many ancient trees there are, or have a full list of parks with ancient trees until we complete our inventory.
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