August, 1918 
41 
POPLARS and ASPENS —the TREES of GAYETY 
Their Uses for Certain Landscape Effects Which Require that Sunlight 
Be Reflected Rather than Absorbed 
ROBERT S. LEMMON 
Poplar Characteristics 
The same spirit of shallowness—I 
do not use the word in a disparaging 
sense-—is true also of the Lombardy 
poplar and several others of the 
family. None of them absorb light, 
and as shade trees in the popular 
meaning of the phrase only two or 
three deserve much attention. They 
are restive rather than restful, though their afternoon 
shadows stretching far across the lawn have a de¬ 
cided landscape value. 
With this general introduction, then, we are ready 
to take up the characteristics of the Populus tribe 
more in detail. Assuming that you wish trees which 
will lighten up your grounds instead of adding to 
their weight, what shall you select? And how shall 
you use them, once they have been chosen? 
The poplars and aspens are trees of rapid growth, 
soft wooded and therefore best adapted to quick 
rather than permanent landscape results. The foliage 
as a rule is a lightish green, without much indenta¬ 
tion or notching of the leaves. In a number of 
species the stems of the leaves are flattened, which 
causes that restless activity even on an almost wind¬ 
less day which is so characteristic of the aspens espe¬ 
cially. There is considerable variation in the leaves, 
even on the same tree, depending upon their position 
and the age of the branch from which they grow. 
This is one of the points of recommendation for 
these trees, although not nearly as important a one 
as are the catkins which, in early spring, render the 
members of the Populus family so attractive. One 
cannot but wish that the catkins were longer lived, 
particularly the staminate ones. In some species they 
attain a length of 4" or more. 
Of the two best known species, the Lombardy and 
the Carolina poplars, the former offers perhaps the 
greater possibilities from a landscaping point of view. 
In form it is striking, a slender, spire-like tree 50' 
to 60' high at maturity, an actual shaft of fresh 
and brilliant green that sways and yields to the 
The most effective planting ar¬ 
rangement for Lombardy pop¬ 
lars is that of the Old World 
cypress—in roivs flanking an 
avenue or driveway, or else¬ 
where in long lines rather than 
groups 
At maturity the Lombardy pop¬ 
lar is a slender, spire-like tree 50' 
to 60' in height, a shaft of living 
green that sways and yields to 
the wind arid is always gay in 
appearance 
wind’s thrust yet always returns to 
renew the struggle. Its most effec¬ 
tive planting arrangement is as the 
Old World cypress is used—in rows 
flanking an avenue or driveway, or 
elsewhere in long lines, as the boun¬ 
dary of a piece of property. 
Group or mass plantings of Lom¬ 
bardy poplars are seldom thoroughly 
successful, partly because the trees 
look best when emphasized as indi¬ 
viduals, and partly because a clump 
of more than three or four in full 
view rather over-emphasizes them. 
For, granted that Lombardy poplars 
are highly desirable when properly 
used, there is no denying the fact 
that when wrongly placed, and in too 
great numbers, they usually tend to 
cheapen the effect of a place. The 
principle to follow is that they should 
serve as accents and lines rather than 
as the real foundation of the land¬ 
scape scheme. 
On Estates 
On large places, these trees can 
often be agreeably placed to give va¬ 
riety to a skyline as marked by other 
species of lower, more rounded form. 
The spire-like tip of an occasional 
Lombardy showing above a clump of 
maples or oaks, for example, is not 
without its special value. On these 
large places, too, where a wide ex¬ 
panse of lawn offers opportunity for 
daring background effects, a clump 
of eight or ten of these trees of dif¬ 
ferent ages and heights can be made 
strikingly Gothic in its suggestion of 
turrets and spires. 
The second of our poplars is P. 
(Continued on page 54) 
N O one can proceed very far in 
the study of landscape design 
without realizing that there 
are architectural types of trees just as 
there are of houses. The oaks, for 
instance, correspond to the Georgian 
period—sturdy and dignified, solidly 
rooted to their sites. The simplicity 
of the American Colonial finds its 
complement in the elm, a tree of 
perfect symmetry and grace. The 
turrets and towers of the Gothic are 
matched by the conical or columnar 
forms of spruce, cedar and Lombardy 
poplar. Indeed, there is scarcely a 
tree which has not some dominant 
characteristic, some distinct person¬ 
ality in form, color or spirit. 
The trees which are the subject 
of this article—the poplars and as¬ 
pens— have several characteristics 
which fit them especially for the se¬ 
curing of certain landscape effects. 
In the first place, they are “gay” 
trees, light and airy and reflecting 
sunshine rather than absorbing it. 
The “weight” of a tree, by which I 
mean its relative strength in the land¬ 
scape, is a very real thing. As an 
extreme illustration of this, compare 
a common aspen with a fir. The 
aspen is light and fanciful, a tree 
whose pale gray-green foliage shim¬ 
mers and quivers at the lightest touch 
of breeze. One could not take an 
aspen very seriously; it is too vari¬ 
able and fond of dancing. The fir, 
on the other hand, is superlatively 
dignified and composed, inspiring 
somber rather than cheerful feelings. 
Instead of its foliage reflecting back 
the light of summer sun and cloud, 
it absorbs it, hides and holds it fast 
among dark green branches. The fir 
is a tree of evening calm; the aspen, 
of noonday laughter. 
