Join tour guide Miles Connors on Tuesday, May 16 at 4 for a walking tour of Lincoln Park. The story of Lincoln Park in Lexington MA is one of land reclamation on what historically was a town dump. Today it is an evolving and powerful statement about a community’s ability to restore the landscape and create places of beauty and ecological value. The Lincoln Park Committee (a subcommittee of the Lexington Recreation Committee) stewards the 60-acres for the Town of Lexington as open space for the community.
Lincoln Park offers visitors a system of boardwalks and woodland trails through native gardens. There are upland woodlands, red maple wetlands, native wildflower meadows, ponds, streams, and other native plant communities. Established groves of Rhododendron and Leucothoe beneath white pine, American Beech with Mountain Laurel, native Azalea varieties with Dogwood for spring flower, and establishing Cypress along the pond edge all contribute to the native plant communities. These native plant communities provide a range of habitat to support wildlife, and a rich experience for visitors.
To maintain the native plant communities, there is a seasonal Maintenance Plan that is approved and implemented to enhance the ecological value of Lincoln Park each season. Site walks and oversight from a Landscape Architect and Arborists, combined with weekly stewardship from dedicated Horticulturalists, facilitate the ongoing maintenance. The Park has also implemented a comprehensive invasive plant management program designed to identify and manage common invasive plants, and raise public awareness of the negative environmental impact of invasive species.
Miles Connors is the Director of Parterre Ecological Services, a locally owned business specializing in restoration services to sustain our native plant communities through invasive plant management and native restoration strategies, necessary permitting, and planning. Miles holds undergraduate degrees in Environmental Planning & Policy and Biology and a Masters in Sustainable Landscape Planning & Design. Ecological Landscape Alliance members $23, nonmembers $33. See more and register at: http://www.ecolandscaping.org/event/eco-tour-lincoln-park/#sthash.02bfi3kY.dpuf
