SELECTING TREES FOR SHELTER, SHADE AND SHOW 



BY HENRY R. FRANCIS 



PROFESSOR OF LANDSCAPE EXTENSION, SYRACUSE UNIVERSITY 



THESE are not the only purposes for which trees 

 may be selected, but shelter, shade and show will 

 almost completely cover the purposes for which 

 most ornamental trees are planted. Usually those trees 

 which are planted for utilitarian purposes shade and 

 shelter are much less expensive than those which are 

 planted solely for esthetic purposes. The results that 

 are obtained are ordinarily more satisfactory from the 

 former than from the latter class of trees. 



Nearly anyone can determine where shade and shel- 

 ter are desired, but it takes an artist to select and locate 

 trees for show, particularly when the show desired is one 

 of harmony and restfulness. However, this should not 

 discourage the lover of trees in planting those that are 

 particularly appealing to him. It should be an incentive 

 for studying 

 design in tree 

 a r r angement. 

 It should tend 

 also toward 

 the apprecia- 

 tion of the 

 value of the 

 service of some 

 landscape 

 architect. . 



Trees for 

 shade are fre- 

 quently plant- 

 ed along city 

 and village 

 streets and 

 along the 

 country road- 

 sides. Where 

 the space per- 

 mits it is de- 

 sirable also to 

 plant trees for 

 shade on the lawn. The planting of trees for shade along 

 city streets is limited to a very few varieties. The arti- 

 ficial conditions under which trees are forced to struggle 

 when planted along business streets necessitates the use 

 of even a smaller number of varieties than those available 

 for use along other streets which are developed more 

 for residential purposes. 



The most successful selection for business street tree 

 purposes seems to be that of the Sycamore. The Ameri- 

 can sort, which is known botanically as Plalanus occi- 

 dentalis, can be found in many of the older cities in the 

 eastern part of our country along the streets near the 

 centers of the business districts. These are, without 

 doubt, the remnants of the earlier growth of trees which, 

 before the streets were extensively developed, included 



VISTA OF GRANT'S TOMB, RIVERSIDE PARK, NEW YORK CITY 



Trees may be grouped so as to frame an attractive view. This method of tree arrangement is used exten- 

 sively in park planting. It can be used with equally good results in private estate planting. 



many other native species, such as the elm, the maple, 

 the ash and the horse chestnut. Of these trees which 

 have gradually died out, the elm seems to have with- 

 stood the increasingly artificial conditions much longer 

 than the others, but the fact that the sycamore may yet 

 be found in business districts is an encouraging indica- 

 tion that it should be more commonly planted in these 

 places. Of course, the sycamore, if allowed to grow with- 

 out any care or treatment whatever, is liable to become 

 scraggy and altogether too large. In London, where the 

 sycamore is used extensively for street and avenue plant- 

 ing, the trees are given proper attention and are main- 

 tained in desirable shapes and sizes. So popular has 

 this tree become in England that it is commonly known 

 there as the London Plane. There is a tendency on the 



part of the city 

 fores ters in 

 some of the 

 cities in this 

 country to give 

 preference t o 

 the Oriental 

 Plane tree, 

 Plat anus o r i- 

 entalis, rather 

 than to our 

 own native 

 sycamore. 1 1 

 is true that the 

 o r i e n t al va- 

 riety grows in- 

 to a more sym- 

 metrical tree, 

 but I believe 

 that our own 

 native syca- 

 more is worthy 

 of a more ex- 

 tensive trial 

 for shading business streets. Another tree which, for use 

 along business streets, has gained great popularity, is 

 the Norway maple. Its use, by no means, is confined to 

 these locations. It is being planted in immense numbers 

 in city residential and suburban streets. This maple is 

 probably more desirable for city streets than the other 

 maples. It is covered with foliage early in the season, 

 and is one of the last to drop its leaves in the autumn. It 

 will not grow into as large a tree as the sycamore, 

 although I have seen it along country roadsides where it 

 has attained a comparatively large size. When selected 

 for city streets, it develops into a shapely tree if the 

 lower branches are gradually removed so that when the 

 tree begins to take its ultimate form there are no branches 

 from the main stem lower than twelve feet above the 



