Campus Planting Concepts
Maintenance for Existing Trees
Elizabethtown College's existing trees are valuable campus assets that deserve proper maintenance and protection to ensure future effectiveness. Selective pruning of large, mature trees by a qualified professional arborist would greatly enhance important views to and from major campus buildings while improving the trees' structural strength and general health.
The Dell is one campus areas where selective removal of lower tree branches would greatly enhance this outdoor space. Without these lower branches, important views into The Dell from adjoining walkways and campus buildings will be restored and enhanced. All pruning should, however, retain each tree's natural form. Removal of all broken, weak, crowded, or otherwise hazardous branches should also take place and be repeated every five to ten years, as recommended and review by the campus landscape architect.
Like The Dell, other campus areas could benefit from selective pruning or, in some instances, complete tree removal. Obviously, any and all dead or diseased vegetation should be immediately removed. The College may also consider removal of some trees (particularly evergreen trees), which were apparently planted without careful consideration of the mature tree's height, width, and overall natural growth habit. Several evergreen trees currently block important views of main building entrances or create physical conflicts with nearby roads and walkways.
Evergreen trees should always be allowed to retain the species' natural form, including its lower branches to the ground plane. Future evergreen plantings must, however, be carefully sited to avoid potential safety and security risks where low tree branches obstruct views of motorists and pedestrians. Plantings of evergreens are appropriate where winter interest is desired or where visual buffers and windbreaks are needed as well as serving as anchors at corners of larger buildings.
Most existing trees on campus appear to be in good condition. Two types of trees, hemlocks and dogwood, are in a state of decline on campus and throughout our region. If not presently a part of the College's maintenance program, spraying to control wooly adlegid insects and anthracnose disease on Canadian Hemlocks (Tsuga canadensis) and Dogwoods (Cornus florida), respectively should be implemented. Until these diseases and pests are more easily controlled, new disease-resistant cultivars of Dogwood and Carolina Hemlock (Tsuga caroliniana) should be substituted in future plantings.
Lighting for Existing Mature Trees
Currently mature trees on campus are most appreciated during daytime when sunlight accentuates each tree's unique form, filters throughout various colored/textured foliage, and casts fascinating shadow patterns. Similar dramatic effects could be achieved during the evening and nighttime hours through selective up-lighting of significant trees.
The landscape composed of lighted tree canopies and silhouettes of adjacent, unlighted trees affords greater appreciation of nature's patterns, branching habits, and bark characteristics. These features are especially of interest during the winter months when most students are on campus and the trees are without ornamental flowers or foliage.
Proposed Tree Plantings
Elizabethtown College currently has a wonderful collection of mature trees planted during the preceding century. Future plantings throughout various parts of the campus would benefit from repeating existing plant types and from the creation of a specific list of potential plant material. By repeating a consistent palette of species throughout the entire campus, the College could establish a consistent landscape identity.
When establishing future tree plantings, careful consideration of proposed panting locations and selected tree species are paramount. Emphasis should be given to selection of native tree species, which naturally occur within the region, are best acclimated to local soils and climatic conditions, and preserve local landscape character (which is quickly disappearing in the wake of development within previously wooded areas).
In addition to mature canopy trees, the campus has many spectacular ornamental trees, which are primarily at their visual peak in April and May, a time which coincides with peak campus visitation for graduation and other spring events. A need exists, however, for more ornamental trees with winter interest. Trees such as Hawthorn with persistent winter berries or Paperbark Maple with distinctive bark characteristics should be incorporated into the campus landscape. There are opportunities for planting ornamental trees in future planned projects on the campus, including the Centennial Garden and around future campus housing.
Proper siting for proposed canopy and ornamental trees is as important as proper species selection. Generally, several plants of the same species should be planted in a grove formation rather than many single specimen plants located throughout a specific area. The latter planting pattern usually creates "a horticultural zoo" effect of too many specimen plants rather than a unified vegetation mass which defines outdoor spaces or contributes to a specific landscape character. However, specimen tree plantings are appropriate in areas such as courtyards and flanking important building entrances.
Mass tree plantings are especially effective in establishing key vistas across campus or between buildings. They aid in defining both pedestrian and vehicular circulation patterns when planted along the perimeter of these campus routes. Certain campus routes such as the walkway connecting the main academic precinct to the Schreiber Quadrangle are in immediate need of additional plantings.
The concept of planting in larger masses also applies to shrubs, ornamental grasses, bulbs, perennials, and other ground cover plants. Higher-maintenance planting of seasonal annuals make strong welcoming statements when individual plants form a larger mass of landscape color and texture near campus entrances. The College should develop and maintain a seasonal strategy to provide color at key entrance points to include bulbs, annuals, and perennials.
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