DREER report #2

Christopher Keil
Czech Republic
September 2009
http://chrisinprague.posterous.com/

My time here in the Czech lands is going by very quickly but I have managed to see
some very interesting places in the past month. Fortunately, in the department of Cultural
Landscapes there is a lot of site visit and field research going on currently which has allowed
me to accompany landscape and horticultural researchers on trips out of the city and into the
countryside. One ongoing projects that I have been involved in is the documenting of
historical tree allees. This work entails the study of old maps and aerial imagery to prepare
for a survey visit. When in the field we measure the diameter of the largest trees, the spacing
of the trees and record the species of these important landscape features. I have also finally
been able to spend some time in the nearby landscape parks and learn from some of the
gardeners about the evolution of the landscape and attempts to restore some of the original
design intentions. Finally, I am continuing to work on what has been termed by my Czech
colleagues as a “re-cultivation plan” for the Veltrusy Park. I am enjoying an Indian summer of
sorts and landscape is still green and productive. Farmers have begun to harvest wheat and
hops in some parts of Central Bohemia as well.
Tree allees are very important features in the Czech landscape that currently are
imperiled by lack of maintenance and road (re)construction projects. Many of these green
tunnels have been in place for hundreds of years marking important royal roads and forming
dominant landscape features. They also serve as important windbreaks for agricultural fields,
bird habitat, and food for weary travelers as many are planted with fruit trees. At the turn of
the 18th century, Marie-Thérèse, promoted the establishment of fruit tree allees throughout the
Austro-Hungarian Empire and most frequently plums, apples, and pears were utilized. Today
Allees create cooler temperatures on otherwise searing asphalt and a pleasing rhythm of light
and shadow for travel (traffic calming? Probably not). It is still possible to obtain very cheap
permits from local governments to harvest sets of trees in the fruit tree allees. Sometimes
very cheap fruit (like plums and apricots) make it to market in Prague or other towns and
villages. However, more often it seems that much of this roadside fruit just falls and rots in
situ. It is of course much different gathering fruit on a class 2 highway then on a wagon road
as one could imagine these areas 200 years ago. In many places the asphalt of these roads
comes right up to the trunks of the Horse-chestnuts, Lindens, or Norway Maples because of
course when these trees were planted in the last century or before they did not anticipate the
development of high-speed motorways in these corridors. Road salt and agricultural
pesticide damage is clearly visible on many of the trees as well. It is understandable of
course that trees deemed dangerous must be removed as they tower over well-traveled roads
but there is no organized replacement effort and many of the allees are now fragmented and
more like groves along the roadway. It is hard to overestimate the cultural significance of
these allees which often are older (not the actual trees but the planting design) than America.
Hopefully the database I am helping collect data for will help with the management,
preservation and restoration of some of these plantings.
I have finally been able to spend some time in the landscape park and dendrological
garden adjacent to the institute and they are both quite beautiful. The scale of both
impressed me. The landscape park, Průhonice Park designed and built by Silva Tarouca
starting in the late 1800s and continuing until the property was confiscated by the state after
WWI. Silva Tarouca, for which our institute is named after, was a Spaniard who married a
wealthy family and thus acquired several massive properties in Bohemia. Průhonice Park has
over 40km of trails and straddles the Botič Creek valley just outside of Prague city limits.
There are extensive alpine gardens, long vistas, meadows, an amazing collecting of
Rhododendrons, a series of ponds and constructed waterfalls and many mature trees. There
are many wonderful North American conifer specimens that surprise me with there presence.
During the 1930s the Park's management was taken over by the government and then
subsequently under communism the park became a test ground for botanists and horticultural
researchers. The diversity of species and number of exotic selections grew during this period
but much of the design was also altered as long view corridors became obscured and park-
like areas became overgrown. I am still trying to wrap my head around the park which has
several follies, bridges, rockeries, two separate valley with unique micro-climates and a full
castle so I am constantly collecting images and notes as I go.
The dendrological garden is only slightly less impressive and is more of a landscape
scale teaching garden that has recently incorporated some recreational elements to serve the
local community. One exhibit garden that is particularly interesting is the showcase of living
walls that has hedges of various species planted next to one another for evaluation and
comparison. A classic and neat hedge of Carpinus betulus is starting to change color a little
bit. A nearby pruned hedge of Picea pungens is just kind of weird. There is also some
research plots in several of the gardens including gravel mulching techniques and wetland
gardens. The miniature conifer garden is one of my favorites as it is very exotic in for this
area. A railroad-tie sleeper path through manufactured sandy soil planted with a lot of
heather gives me the feeling of being at the beach more than in an alpine environment.
There are also several plantings there are grouped by Genus such as a showcase of
Euonymus. Tilia henryana is in full bloom and very fragrant. It is a beautiful and interesting
tree that I have never seen before. I will post some photos on my blog once my photographs
are better organized.
In terms of my project in Veltrusy Park we have just finished taking new measurements
for the central tree allee. This has enabled me to precisely locate the position and update the
conditions of these trees in the CAD plans. Additionally, I have been documenting a wetland
area which has been totally neglected and overgrown for nearly half a century. We are
discussing ways to make these interesting areas more engaging and accessible. I am
currently sketching out a path network, perhaps with bridges and coming up with a
management plan that would open up the understory in areas and help the gardeners
determine what species to keep as succession continues in the adjacent upland areas. The
stinging nettles (Urtica dioica),some of which are taller than my head have made this task
particularly challenging. I may need to wait until fall to really assess some portions of this
site.