Lake View is now a Certified Level II Arboretum

While concrete and bricks of the urban landscape stretch far and wide, Lake View Cemetery is just the opposite - our 285 acres of lush greenery provide a change of scenery for all who visit. Trees cover nearly two-thirds of Lake View Cemetery’s grounds, a testament to the vision our founders had of a beautiful rural garden cemetery and a reflection of the commitment it takes to maintain it for over 150 years. Today, Lake View Cemetery is now an accredited Level II arboretum as part of the ArbNet Arboretum Accreditation Program and is listed on the Morton Register of Arboreta. The ArbNet Arboretum Accreditation Program is the only global initiative to officially recognize institutions that have committed to employing professional horticulture staff, maintaining significant accession and management plans, and utilizing the greenspace as an educational asset in the community.

While a conceptual architectural design guides development of Lake View, there is a fluid horticultural master plan dictating how the horticulture team must proceed into the future. As new burial sections are established, the landscape is developed, relying heavily on the original principles established by landscape architect, Adolph Strauch. New burial sections are predicated on need and, due to changes in cultural and burial practices over time, result in uniquely designed spaces allowing for horticultural enhancement. The distinguished and attractive landscape of Lake View could not have been achieved had the founders and early horticulture teams handed down a rigid master plan that did not allow for evolution and adaptation to newer and better environmental and ecological best practices. In recent years, our emphasis has been on the planting of native species and diligent cultivation of an ecologically sound and sustainable urban arboretum.

Lake View Cemetery is honored to join less than 200 other Level II arboreta worldwide as a model for sustainable horticultural practices, public education and engagement, and urban greenspace.