Venerable Trees Field Course
We had a wonderful Field Course in Lexington, a tour of some of Lexington’s finest trees. Our friend Erin Barnhill was kind enough to share some of her photos of the trip.
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Classes and Workshops
Venerable Trees Classes & Workshops
Lexington’s amazing trees
I have lived in and near Lexington for about 35 years. As a careful observer of trees, I have always been amazed at the number of very large trees. This became the subject of my first book, Venerable Trees – History, Biology and Conservation in the Bluegrass. Since 2005, we have been working with landowners and others to conserve our ancient trees and to provide opportunities for them to successfully reproduce. As part of that work, we have been using GPS and GIS to map and record the condition of as many trees as possible.
Sadly, the population of big, old trees in our community is continuing to decline. While construction, lightning, age and disease are major causes of their decline, I think there is a more fundamental problem: we do not sufficiently value our great trees to ensure their survival.
We are planning a walking and bus tour of some of the Great Trees of Lexington in an effort to bring more attention to their plight, and to create a community-wide effort to do more to preserve our natural heritage. The tour is scheduled for Saturday, September 16 from 8:30 am to 1 pm. We will begin our exploration at West 6th Brewing, travel by bus to as many sites as time allows, and return to West 6th for an informal discussion of ancient tree conservation. Each participant will receive a map of known large trees in Lexington.
Attendance is limited to 30 people. We hope you will join us. Register here and we will send you more information.
The Three Sisters
The Three Sisters
Griffith Woods Wildlife Management Area is a magical place of huge, ancient trees. Some of our favorites are the chinkapin oaks that we call the Three Sisters. Katherine Shaw took this nice picture of the Three Sisters. These are very large, very old trees. However, unlike the kingnut trees that surround them, these chinkapin oaks do not appear to be reproducing. At our upcoming Field Course on March 4, we will take a very close look at these wonderful trees and search for their progeny. Lack of reliable reproduction is a major cause of the decline of our ancient trees and woodland pastures.
The Three Sisters at Griffith Woods Wildlife Management Area. Photo by Katherine Williams Shaw
Ancient Trees at the Urban Boundary
The margin between urban and rural areas is an area of constant change. In most cities, development rapidly gobbles up rural land, including its forests. In Lexington, Kentucky, strict land use regulations have slowed this trend. It is at the edge of the city that we can most closely watch and learn from the impacts of development and other land use changes on our Venerable Trees.
Please join us on Saturday, February 4 as we explore the city’s edge. We will explore the fascinating Coldstream complex, a diverse area of developed and agricultural land that is home to a remarkable population of ancient trees. Katherine Shaw and Tom Kimmerer will tell the fascinating history of the area, and we will together explore the unique biology of these ancient trees and their habitat. We will also help you hone your winter tree identification skills.
Registration is required, but there is no fee. To register, send an email to info@venerabletrees.org, and provide your name, number of people in your party, your email, and a phone number where you can be reached. We will then send you detailed information about the course. Right now, the weather forecast is for temperatures in the 50s and overcast. If that changes for the worse, we may reschedule the course.
People of all ages are invited. The walking will be easy, and the terrain not very rough. Children are welcome with adult supervision. Well-behaved dogs on a leash are also welcome, though cats and parakeets are not.
We hope to see you on the fourth.
The Coldstream Complex
Rethinking Urban Forestry in Lexington
The urban forest of Lexington includes a remarkably large number of very large, very old trees, may of them predating the existence of the cities. These trees are now in trouble. Many of them are unhealthy because of neglect, poor management decisions, and old age. We need to change the way we view and manage these old trees or they will soon be gone. Please join us for a discussion about the actions we can take to ensure a long life for these trees:
Lexington’s Urban Forest: Remnants of an Ancient Landscape, Wednesday September 7, 6-8 pm, Fayette County Extension Office, 1140 Red Mile Place, Lexington. Open to the public, no registration. Map.
The benefits of large trees in urban landscapes greatly exceed the benefits of smaller trees. Very large trees provide wildlife habitat and other ecosystem services that cannot be replaced when they die.
Yet in most cities, including Lexington, almost all the expenditures of money, time and effort in urban forestry are misdirected. We spend huge amounts of money planting street trees that repay the favor by quickly dying. Conversely, we spend almost no money on large old trees except to take them down.
We need to change the way we think about and manage large old trees before they are all gone. On September 7, 2016, we are going to begin a series of events designed to change the way we practice urban forestry and avoid the loss of all our ancient venerable trees.
This discussion will be followed by a Field Course on Saturday October 1 to explore the presence and management of ancient trees in our landscape. Registration is required for the Field Course. More information is on our Field Courses page.
The goal of these events is to ask and answer one question: how do we ensure a future for our ancient trees? To make these events successful, we need you. We are inviting community leaders to these events, but it is very important to have a good showing of our loyal friends and supporters. Please make a date to attend the events, especially the lecture on Wednesday September 7.
Field Course – Airdrie Stud
Venerable Trees, Inc. offers frequent Field Courses to introduce people to the amazing woodland pasture ecosystem of the Bluegrass and Nashville Basin. Recently, we were able to visit the amazing Airdrie Stud Farm at the gracious invitation of Mrs. Elizabeth Jones, the Owner. Airdrie Stud is one of the premier horse farms in the Bluegrass. It is also the location of one of the best-preserved and most extensive woodland pastures and some of the finest trees in the Bluegrass.
Below is a slide show of our course. The photos were taken by Rick Showalter and are used with permission. Thanks Rick and Sallie! Click pictures for a slide show.
Great Trees of Jessamine County
Jessamine County is one of the fastest-growing counties in Kentucky. A bedroom community for Lexington, it is also increasingly a center for business and manufacturing. In spite of this growth, much of Jessamine County retains its rural flavor. Some of the finest woodland pastures in the Bluegrass can be found in northern Jessamine County. Locations like the Robinson Farm and Chaumiere des Prairies are home to magnificent ancient trees. Our research has recently shown that some of these sites are probably unchanged for thousands of years. Remarkably, the farmers who settled these locations saw no need to disturb the woodland pastures or the deep, rich soils.
To whet your appetite, here is a gallery of trees from around Jessamine County. On March 19, Venerable Trees will hold a Field Course in Jessamine County and will reveal, for the first time, some of the remarkable history of the woodland pastures and farms of the county. Please join us.
Scroll down for a gallery of Jessamine County trees.
Jessamine County, Kentucky
Bourbon County Field Course
Saturday, February 27, was a beautiful day to spend with friends old and new exploring the woodland pastures of Bourbon County. We had 23 guests who had lots of great questions and observations. Special thanks to Jim and Kellye Pikul for their hospitality and enthusiasm. A special thanks to Jim for helping with navigation and path clearing – it is useful to have a Marine along.
The main focus of this Field Course was on conservation and on what we need to do to ensure a future for Bourbon County woodland pastures. The woodlot that we explored showed that the woodland pasture species can regenerate themselves under the right condition. However, without good management the woodland pasture will quickly revert to forest as we saw.
In addition to learning about conservation of woodland pastures, we had an opportunity to explore many aspects of tree biology. Nancy Barnett starred in the role of the vascular cambium, we had a contest to see who could accurately guess the height of a tree (not as easy as it sounds), and we talked about the life-time of unitary and clonal trees. One of the highlights was the discovery of a substantial stand of very large sugarberry, Celtis laevigata.
We hope that the folks who attended the course will become the nucleus of a sustained effort to ensure a future for the woodland pastures of Bourbon County. We are beginning additional projects in Woodford and Jessamine Counties. Check our Events page to find out what is coming up.
A Winter Tree Walk at Lower Howard’s Creek – Postponed
Postponed: Due to an injury, we are temporarily unable to offer Field Courses. We will reschedule courses as soon as possible.On Saturday, January 23, from 9am to 1pm, Venerable Trees and the Lower Howard’s Creek Nature Preserve are offering a winter tree walk at the Preserve in Clark County. This will be a hike in rough, forested terrain. Participants will
- Learn to identify common Bluegrass trees in winter – it’s easier than you think;
- Learn what trees are doing in the winter – it’s a lot more than you think;
- Learn about the importance of Bluegrass creeks as nurseries for woodland pasture trees.
We hope you can join us. Registration is limited to the first 20 people who register.To cost of the course is $20. Click the Pay Now button and make a payment of $20 per person to help cover our expenses. The payments are made through PayPal, but you do not need a PayPal account. If you prefer not to pay online, please contact us and let us know how you would like to pay.
To cost of the course is $20. Click the Pay Now button and make a payment of $20 per person to help cover our expenses. If you prefer not to pay online, please contact us and let us know how you would like to pay.
Butternut, Juglans cinerea
Fixing Our Urban Tree Management Problems
At a workshop at Bell Place Park in Lexington last Saturday, we made considerable progress on improving urban tree management in Lexington. Although the weather was poor and the turnout small, some key people were there. In addition to several citizens from the neighborhood, we were joined by LFUCG Council Member Steve Kay, LFUCG Deputy Director of Parks and Recreation Chris Cooperrider, and other city staff. The workshop was conducted by Tom Kimmerer, Chief Scientist at Venerable Trees, and Dave Leonard, a distinguished arborist from Dave Leonard Tree Specialists. After looking at some of the damage due to mowing contractors, including the death of a large ginkgo, there was consensus on the following actions that should be taken:
- The city should gradually shift from the use of contractors for mowing back to the use of Parks and Recreation employees who have better training and a vested interest in the health of our trees;
- During the transition, better oversight of contractors is essential to reduce damage;
- The city has already begun a reorganization of urban forestry within existing city departments to provide more professionalism and expertise in tree management across all city properties, and this should improve current practices;
- More neighborhood involvement is critical, including citizen involvement in maintaining trees in the parks within their neighborhoods. For example, neighborhood associations could organize tree mulching activities with materials and support from Parks and Recreation staff.
Dave Leonard offered some lessons in proper mulching of trees and, with help from the neighbors, he mulched several trees. He also inspected several trees in the neighborhood.
We agreed as a group that the emphasis in planting on city properties should be on native trees of the Inner Bluegrass plus some trees such as baldcypress from elsewhere in the region, but that do well here. One recommendation was to remove all callery pears (Bradford and Aristocrat) from city property, since they are a major source of seeds for invasion of city natural areas.
We all left the meeting feeling that we are making significant progress.
October Tour of Large Bluegrass Trees
A group of tree enthusiasts from Iowa and Ohio came to Lexington to see some of our largest trees. The group, Matt Markworth, Landon Smith, and Mark and Rita Rouw are members of the Native Tree Society who love to measure and record very large trees. We took them on a brief tour of some of the most significant trees in Lexington, including the national champion American basswood and Ohio buckeye, the Ingleside Oak, the Old Schoolhouse Tree, the St. Joe Oak and other significant landmarks in Lexington. Here is a photo gallery of some of the highlights.
We are planning more tours in the near future, probably in November. The press of other work has kept us from other tours, but we are planning more for the near future.
One highlight of the trip was the realization that several buckeyes near the national champion Ohio buckeye, Aesculus glabra, are actually yellow buckeye, Aesculus flava. The Bluegrass is in the hybrid zone for these species, with intermediate individuals common along the Kentucky river. Although most upland trees in our area are Ohio buckeyes, we will be reexamining these trees when they are in flower next spring to be sure that the national champion Ohio buckeye is not in fact a hybrid tree. Stay tuned for more on that in the spring.
Reminder – Urban Tree Walk This Saturday, Oct. 11
What: A walk around Bell Court to look at the condition of trees on city land (Bell Place Park). Dave Leonard and Tom Kimmerer will show you what has happened to the trees in this park as a result of poor management practices, and will talk about solutions.
When: Saturday, October 11, 10am – 11:30am
Where: Bell Place Park in Bell Court.
Who: This walk is for anybody concerned about the future of Lexington’s urban forest and what can be done to improve the management of our trees. There is no charge and registration is not required.
Note: For those who are interested, there may be time to continue our walk around downtown Lexington for a further look at our urban forest.
Bell Place Park is at the corner of Sayre Avenue and Bell Court. Here is a map:
Walking Tour of Trees at Bell Court
Many people have expressed concern about the poor condition of trees in Lexington parks. To help concerned citizens understand the nature of the problem and see some solutions, we are holding a walking tour of trees and tree condition at Bell Place Park in Bell Court, Lexington. The tour is from 10 to 12 on Saturday, October 11. No registration is required and there is no charge.
The tour will be conducted by Dave Leonard, the most experienced arborist in Lexington, and Tom Kimmerer, a tree physiologist who is Chief Scientist at Venerable Trees. We will look at all the trees in the park and teach participants how to recognize the signs and symptoms of tree damage and decline.
For those who are interested and have some walking energy left after the Bell Place tour, we may be able to continue with a walk through some other areas of downtown to look at tree condition, with a stop for lunch somewhere.
Bell Place Park is at the corner of Sayre Avenue and Bell Court. Here is a map:
Save These Dates
Venerable Trees will be offering several workshops over the next few months. Details of workshops will be posted soon. Please note that registration is required for all workshops and there are fees for some.
Note: Some Dates have changes.
Here are the upcoming workshops. All are on Saturdays.
- Saturday, August 29, 8am-2pm – Lexington Urban Ramble. A walking tour of parks and other locations on the North Side of Lexington.
- Saturday, September 13, 8am-5pm – The Woodford Tour.A tour of woodland pastures and ancient trees in Woodford County
- Saturday September 27 , 8am-3pm -The Coldstream Ramble. A tour of ancient trees in and around Coldstream Farm and the Legacy Trail.
- Saturday, October 11, 8am-5pm – Special tour for donors. A tour by invitation to our donors, including visits to several sites that are not open to the public.
- Saturday, November 1, 8am-5pm – The Bourbon County Tour. A tour of woodland pastures and ancient trees in Bourbon County.
Venerable Trees Lecture – June 19 in Paris KY
Tom Kimmerer, Chief Scientist at Venerable Trees, Inc, will be giving a lecture on Venerable Trees of the Bluegrass.
Date: Thursday, June 19
Time: 3 pm
Place: Wallis House, 616 Pleasant Street Paris, Kentucky 40361
Sponsor: Garden Club of Bourbon County
Map of the Wallis House
Venerable Trees of Woodford County March 12, 6:00pm
Tom Kimmerer, Chief Scientist at Venerable Trees, will be giving a presentation “Venerable Trees of Woodford County” on Wednesday, March 12 beginning at 6:00 pm. The presentation will be at Versailles Presbyterian Church, 130 North Main Street, Versailles KY (Map). Scroll down for more information.
Woodford County is home to woodland pastures of open-grown, old trees shading grass and clover. These woodland pastures have been in existence for hundreds, or perhaps thousands, of years. This presentation will emphasize the Venerable Trees in Woodford County, provide an explanation of their origins, and discuss the future of the Bluegrass landscape. The discussion will be especially interesting to rural land owners and farm managers. There will be ample time for discussion.
There will be a light supper at 6:00 before the presentation. The cost for supper is $6.00. If you are planning to attend, please send an email to info at venerabletrees.org so we can tell the church how many people to prepare for. If you want to skip the meal, please arrive at 6:45.
Field Course: Venerable Trees of the Lexington Cemetery, November 23, 2013
What: A tour of Lexington Cemetery to look at Venerable Trees.
Instructors: Tom Kimmerer, PhD, Chief Scientist at Venerable Trees Inc.
Special Guest: Miles Penn, Horticulturist of Lexington Cemetery
When: Saturday, November 23, 10 am to noon, Lexington Cemetery, Lexington, KY (map).
We will meet just inside the cemetery entrance and will walk the grounds to look at the trees we believe to be older than the cemetery. Parking space is limited, and carpooling is a good idea. Bring your cameras and a raincoat. In the event of severe weather, we will reschedule the event. Please check the Venerable Trees website for last-minute updates.
This field course is free, but registration is required. The course will be limited to the first 25 registered participants.
Register by sending an email to info@venerabletrees.org. Provide your name, the number of people in your party, and the age of children, if any. You will receive a registration confirmation. Please do not attend the course if you have not received a confirmation.
Note: This course is suitable for attentive children 10 and over accompanied by an adult (1 child per adult). Younger children may not find the course to their liking. We plan on doing a children’s course in the Spring.
Don’t Miss the Workshop!
When: Saturday, October 12, 2013
Where: Floracliff State Nature Preserve and locations in Fayette and Scott Counties
The workshop is filling up and can only accommodate 20 people. Read more about the Workshop, and call Floracliff to register. Please note that clicking Going on our Facebook page does not register you for the workshop – you have to call Floracliff.