Trees Lexington

Next Wednesday, come out to UK’s EREC (Ecological Recreation and EducationCenter) for a free educational event. Attendees will enjoy a presentation by Caroline Kane from the Office of Kentucky Nature Preserves and learn how trees in your yard and urban environments host beneficial insects such as solitary bees, moths, and more. Gain a deeper appreciation for the trees around us and the life they support. Please sign up on our website.

UK EREC
1737 Russell Cave Road
Wednesday, June 17th
6 pm - 7:30 pm

📖 This is the story of a Cherrybark Oak. In early 2019, it was a young sapling in a Pocket Nursery, somewhere from 12”-18” tall.

🍂 Trees Lexington’s Pocket Nursery program distributed 600 trees tucked into 100 45-gallon grow bags to people across Lexington in the spring of 2019. These “parents” kept them watered and loved, watching them leaf out and grow through the summer months. Some baby trees received songs, jokes, and coffee dates as they worked hard on growing a strong root system. After deciding what trees to keep and plant for themselves, the parents distributed the remaining trees for planting in the fall of 2019 to family, friends and neighbors for planting across Lexington. Trees Lexington board members retrieved those that still needed homes and got them planted in local parks and green spaces.

🌳 This particular Cherrybark Oak found a wonderful home along a route one of our staff members sometimes takes. In addition to the Baldcypress from her Pocket Nursery that she planted in her own yard, she’s watched with delight as this tree has grown beautifully and rapidly, becoming a part of this family’s story as their roots in the neighborhood deepen. It was a part of her Pocket Nursery, after all.

🏡 We talk a lot about tree canopy cover as we work toward a shared citywide goal of 30% cover. Trees must be 15 feet tall to be calculated into tree canopy cover. Both specific trees referenced in this post have passed that milestone, continuing on a journey of growth and maturing into the trees they were meant to be.

📝 We've linked a brief survey in the comments (bio on Instagram) for Pocket Nursery parents or those who planted a tree from a Pocket Nursery. We would love to know how your tree (or trees!) are doing! Please take a moment to fill it out, and send the link along to someone you know with one of these trees.

🎓 We want to dedicate this post to the high school graduating Class of 2026. At the same time these trees were planted, young middle schoolers were wrapping up their first semester of 6th grade. By the first spring these trees were in the ground a few months later, the world had shut down for a global pandemic.

💚 The trees, the students, and Trees Lexington have grown immensely since then. We are so grateful for the growth you’ve helped achieve, the growth of the trees you’ve planted with us at home or across town, and this shared commitment to growing a more vibrant community. As so much of our work lately has been planting trees with students at Fayette County Public Schools, we are especially honored and proud to be a part of the educational experience of hundreds of students a year, and the legacy they help to plant at their schools.

🌟 Congratulations to the Class of 2026 (and the Pocket Nursery trees) for all you have accomplished, how you’ve grown, and the great things you are going to do for our community. Senior parents - grab that photo of your graduate next to that special tree, take a deep breath, and hug them both.

Along the fence line at God’s Pantry Food Bank, 15 water loving trees were planted in several inches of standing water on Saturday morning. Sycamore, baldcypress, river birch, and overcup oaks are settling in and will help mitigate the standing water as they grow and provide numerous benefits to this industrial area.

Thanks to our great volunteers, we were able to quickly get the trees in the ground as the threat of rain increased. While we did get soaked while loading up the trailer, we’re grateful it held off until the very end - and that our trees planted in standing water were officially watered in at planting. Thank you to everyone who came out to make a difference for Lexington’s tree canopy!



Supported by Lex Grow Trees with funding from LFUCG.

Tonight at our office grounds we continue our Tree Steward Education series with Benefits of Trees for Mental Health. This is an outdoor event unless inclement weather forces us indoors. Please wear weather appropriate clothing and wear shoes suitable for light walking.

3564 Clays Mill Road, Lexington, KY 40503
6 pm - 7 pm

Join us at Seven Acres just outside our office door for a program focused on how trees impact our mental health, led byTivoli Hendricks, LPCC.

Tivoli Hendricks is a licensed professional clinical counselor (LPCC) in the state of Kentucky with a bachelor’s degree in psychology from the University of San Diego (San Diego, CA) and a master’s degree in clinical mental health counseling from George Fox University (Portland, OR). Tivoli approaches therapy with a trauma-informed lens and incorporates IFS, mindfulness, and principles of existential therapy into her sessions. She believes total health involves addressing the physical, mental, and social needs of a person. Tivoli works with people struggling with various mental health issues and an assortment of life difficulties.

Like planting trees? Help us wrap up our spring planting season over the next 9 days! Get all the information and register on our website:
www.treeslexington.org/events

Friday, May 22nd
Davis Park
22 trees
2 pm - 4 pm

Saturday, May 23rd
God’s Pantry Food Bank
15 trees
10 am - 12 pm

Monday, May 25th
Garden Springs Park
11 trees + Tree Diaper installation
11 am - 1 pm

Wednesday, May 27th
Mary Todd Elementary
11 trees + Tree Diaper installation
3:30 pm - 5 pm

Thursday, May 28th
Glendover Elementary
29 trees with BYSC and FCCD
3:30 - 6:30 pm

We want to thank our KY Gives donors for helping us raise more than $1,000 in the last 24 hours! Your support makes a huge difference in our growth, not through the donations alone but in the heart and care behind every dollar given.

Perhaps you support Trees Lexington because you want cleaner air or more shade during summer heat. Maybe it’s because you want to provide habitat for birds and other wildlife. It might be that gorgeous catalpa in bloom or majestic oak down the street that has you wanting to help us get more trees planted across Lexington. There’s also the community you’ve found at our events, along with the fulfilling work of planting and caring for trees. Whatever it is that inspired you to give, we hope you realize the role you play in making Trees Lexington special and successful - THANK YOU!

We hope to see you at our upcoming events - Benefits of Trees for Mental Health, Tree Planting at God’s Pantry Food Bank, and Beneficial Insects and Host Trees. Find them all on our website: www.TreesLexington.org/events

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Be a part of something joyful and give to Trees Lexington for KY Gives Day 2026! Help us plant joy, grow community, and inspire the next generation of community leaders and carers. Any donation made today has the potential to DOUBLE or win a prize for HUNDREDS of dollars! Link in comments!

⏰ 100% matches on donations up to $100 at 5 p.m. and again at 9 p.m. Donate within the first 5 minutes of the hour for the best chance at getting the match!

🎫 $200 hourly Golden Ticket prizes to donations drawn at random from 6 p.m. - 7 p.m., 7 p.m. - 8 p.m., and again from 10 p.m. - 11 p.m. Any donation during these times could win the $200 prize!

📣 $500 Power Hour prizes from 4 p.m. - 5 p.m., and again from 11 p.m. - 12 a.m. to organizations with the most unique donors. Ask your group chats to pitch in $10 during the same hour!

"He who plants a tree, plants a joy."
- Lucy Larcom

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It's KY Gives Day and any gift at any time today has the chance to be doubled or win an additional prize donation! Supporting Trees Lexington means a direct investment into the health and happiness of our community. Love trees? Help us plant trees and more love across Lexington! Link to give in comments!