Landscaped Areas

Municipal

The Lexington Parks and Recreation maintains nearly 4,500 acres of green space for the community.

The LFUCG Corridors Commission allocates taxpayer funds for the beautification and maintenance of landscaping along major arterial roads, which includes the planting and care of trees, shrubs and flowers. In collaboration with the Keep Lexington Beautiful Commission and corporate sponsors, beautification projects totaling over $350,000 were completed in 2017-2018. New projects include the Richmond Road corridor (complete), and Southland Drive (underway), the first suburban shopping district in the city now experiencing a small business renaissance.

Lexington Gateway Corridors - Redevelopment of Lexington’s entryways—Versailles Road, Newtown Pike, Georgetown Road, Leestown Road, Old Frankfort Pike and Harrodsburg Road—is continuing with permanent landscaping improvements begun in 2015 according to the Master Plan of the LFUCG Division of Environmental Services with community organization and business support. Corridor Enhancement Match Grants are available to residents and businesses having a viable association

Historic Gratz Park – photo by Smith Schwartz, Tom Eblen

Gratz Park—This historic area has integrated hardscape elements, lighting, a fountain and shaded paths that give welcome solitude to the busy downtown area. Mayfest and the July 3rd Patriotic Concert bring the public downtown to celebrate and enjoy the park’s beauty. The fountain, a gift to the children of Lexington from local author James Lane Allen, expresses playfulness.

Main & Vine Streets—Throughout the central portion of downtown are 151 bright hanging baskets, 295 pots filled with perennials, edibles, and annuals as well as decorative tree wells. Rain gardens along Main and Vine Streets reduce storm water runoff.

Woodland Park—Lush trees and large lawns in Lexington’s first park provide plenty of space near downtown to walk, picnic, swing, or swim in the large outdoor pool. Volunteers maintain a community garden and the area takes pride in this resource including ID stakes for nearly every tree in the park.

The Arboretum of Kentucky—Since its inception 28 years ago between LFUCG and the University of Kentucky, this Kentucky go-to resource provides rich educational resources for children and adults such as demonstration gardens, the 2 mile Walk Across Kentucky , a wildflower prairie with buffalo sculptures, a reflecting Koi pool, a Childrens Garden and the Flight 5191 Memorial. All trees growing in KY are represented here. All trees are labeled and mapped in the interactive Arboretum Explorer.

McConnell Springs Park— Identified as the site of Lexington’s founding, this National Register Historic Site with native plantings and natural setting thrives with high volunteer input, providing phenomenal educational resources for the entire state.

Town Branch Commons: a Trail and a Park was conceived by former Mayor Jim Gray in 2015 in his 2nd Inaugural address as his goal of creating a 21st century park for Lexington. The Trail will be a swath of the Bluegrass running right through downtown Lexington. This winding park and trail system will roughly follow the path of Town Branch, Lexington’s first water source, which is located in a culvert under modern-day Vine Street. The system will include continuous bike and walking paths, a lush green band through downtown, connect new and existing parks, and improve water quality. It will link our city's two major trails, Town Branch Trail and the Legacy Trail, giving us 22 miles of uninterrupted trail, connecting downtown to our world famous rural landscape. Construction on the Trail will begin in 2019 once utility infrastructure is completed on Midland Ave.

Town Branch Park will replace the Rupp Arena parking lot at the western end of the Town Branch Trail, providing water features where the stream now surfaces, grassy play spaces, walking paths, and a much-needed downtown amphitheater. Funding is nearly complete. The Park is in the design stage and will not be built until the expansion of the Lexington Convention Center is complete.

Paris Pike/US 27—Selected by USA Today and other national magazines as one of the top 10 most beautiful drives in the country, Paris Pike was widened for safety but maintained, through citizen effort, its iconic dry stone walls to keep the flavor of Kentucky history. It is wholly contained within a 10,000 acre historic district eligible for listing on the National Register of Historic Places.

Keeneland Racecourse – Lexington’s premier attraction during the spring and fall racing meets maintains beautiful, classic landscaping and maintenance year-round.

Fasig Tipton—This Thoroughbred sales and boarding center lies in a country estate setting frequently used for photography shoots and celebratory events.

Lexington Cemetery—Established in 1849 and intentionally built as both a place of beauty and a public cemetery, the 170 acres of gently rolling hills, winding hedges, 200 species of trees, benches, and ponds create a space that lends itself to remembrance and reflection. Some trees predate its establishment.

Baptist Health Hospital - The entrance to Baptist Health on Nicholasville Road is a welcoming display of natives, perennials and annuals. The hospital campus maintains 4 specialty gardens for patients, families and the public. The sensory garden was designed to renew the 4 senses: lilacs and other fragrant plants for smell, running water and wind chimes for hearing, shade to be easy on the eyes and "touchable" plants, in addition to benches and bricks memorializing staff, patients and veterans. Another is directly off the infusion center, a two story interior garden surrounded by glass,so that patients can savor the outdoors while receiving chemotherapy. It was designed by noted garden designer, now a Lexington resident, Jon Carloftis.

Transylvania University —Almost hidden from view by sculpted brick walls, vines and hedges, new athletic spaces for a landlocked university situate themselves without looking out of place in a historic section of downtown.

Park Place Apartments on Tates Creek Road—The entrance and interior spaces of this multi-residential community are updated seasonally. The plantings and containers throughout the interior of the landscape provide a high-end hotel feel for residents and visitors alike.

Grand Reserve Apartments on Clearwater Way—Attention to detail and variety are evident in the landscape and maintenance of this multi-residence community.

Transylvania Park Medians—Created with grants and neighborhood volunteers, what was a worn but wide urban street median transformed into a shady community park, used by all in the neighborhood.

Heritage Place Subdivision – This senior community off Man O’ War Blvd takes pride in their colorful, lush entrance median off a busy highway. It is colorful with mostly annual plants, is maintained by resident volunteers, and changes with the seasons.

Headley Green Entrance/Subdivision—This neighborhood continually updates its entrance off Mason-Headley road, using sustainable and pollinator-friendly plant varieties. Community members as a whole take pride in maintaining their yards and homes to create a highly walkable and dog-friendly atmosphere.