Community Programs

Parker Meadow's  UA trail
Grand Opening October 15th

The Grand Opening of Parker Meadow's Universally Accessible (UA) trail will be on October 15th from 3-4:00 p.m. Light refreshments will be served at 3:00, with a short speaking address at 3:30. There will be a nature scavenger hunt activity available for children and families. More than light rain will cancel.

If you are more able-bodied please park on Ledgelawn Avenue or arrive via the Minuteman Bikeway or connecting ACROSS Lexington trails.

Please follow proper UA trail etiquette. Bikes yield to all other users. All dogs must be leashed.

Improvements include:

-Creation of 1,697 feet of accessible trails
-Parking area improvements
-Creation of a viewing platform
-Interpretive Panel

Idylwilde Community Gardens

Garden Co-Coordinator Needed  

We are looking for someone to help out as co-coordinator for the Idylwilde Community Garden. Whether you have been at the Community Garden for one year or 10+ years, you can do this! Reach out for more information:

[email protected]

Lincoln Street Sidewalk and Parking Lot Improvements

Construction on the Lincoln Street sidewalk project and parking lot are expect. Please access the garden via the Middle Street entrance.

[email protected]

Land Management

Open Space Recreation Plan

Lexington is updating its 2015 Open Space and Recreation Plan (OSRP). As we embark on the Update, we invite you to join the planning process and share your thoughts…

• As a citizen of Lexington, what is your vision for open spaces and recreation areas in the Town?

• What do you like about the open space and recreational opportunities in Lexington?

• What are the current and future needs for open space and recreation?

Eye Spy in Nature

Lexington Conservation's mysterious pawpaw groves

by Conservation Steward

Barbara Katzenberg

The American pawpaw (Asimina triloba) is a native US tree, common in the mid-Atlantic and Appalachian states. Before 2017, botanists had not documented any pawpaw trees that had “naturalized” this far north. Naturalized means a plant is growing somewhere without having been planted. In 2017 bicycling along the Lower Vine Brook path, I saw a patch of tropical looking trees in the midst of the expected oaks, red maples, and junipers. With help from the botanist at Native Plant Trust, we determined that they were pawpaws.

Our guess is that one pawpaw was planted years ago, it took hold and the grove expanded. We suspect that at least some of the trees, because of their distance from the original patch in fact grew from seed, perhaps the digestive product of a lucky racoon. Another clue is that the pawpaws are generally not self-pollinating so a grove of genetically identical trees won’t produce fruit .

But it turns out that the Lower Vine Brook pawpaw patch is not the only one in Lexington—there is an even larger collection in Parker Meadow. Similar to Lower Vine Brook, in its area, the pawpaw is out-competing both the natives and invasives that populate other parts of these conservation lands. At some point this may become a cause for worry, but for now it’s a fascinating instance of a plant successfully expanding its range.

Upcoming Events!!!

Help us plant!

Volunteers are needed to help plant Conservation Land restoration areas at Parker Meadow and Dunback Meadow.

10/6 10 am-noon @ Parker  Meadow

10/7 10 am-noon @Dunback Meadow

10/8 10 am-noon @Dunback Meadow

Contact the Native Plant Nursery for more information and to Register:

[email protected]

Stewardship Saturday
Work Party

10/15      9:00- noon

Join the Conservation Stewards and Tree Committee to remove oriental bittersweet from Dunback Meadow Conservation Area.

Wear closed toed shoes, long pants, and long shirts. Expect to come in contact with poison ivy.

Contact Pat Moyer to Register

Citizens for Lexington Conservation Walks

Register and find out more  

Fall Sparrows at Waltham St Fields

SATURDAY OCT 1, 9-10:30 AM

Leader:John Andrews ~ [email protected],

781-382-5658  

Fall Goat Pasture Walk at Chiesa Farm

SATURDAY OCTOBER 8, 12-2:00 PM;

RAIN DATE SUNDAY OCTOBER 9, 12-2:00 PM

Contact: Laurene Beaudette ~ [email protected]