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Professional Tree

Inspection

MAY 2012

TREEWORKS ENVIRONMENTAL

PRACTICE

XVI SEMINAR AT ROYAL

BOTANIC GARDENS, KEW

PRESENTATION SYNOPSIS

AVENUES, ALLEES AND

BOULEVARDS

DEFINITIONS, CULTURE,

LAYOUTS, MANAGEMENT

brian g. crane & associates M Hort, P Dip Arb (RFS), OND Hort, FLS, F Arbor A, MIC For, MI Hort, MEWI

Chartered Arboriculturist

Registered Consultant of the Arboricultural Association

Registered Consultant of the Institute of Chartered Foresters

Dip Hort, FLS, F Arbor A, MIC For, MI Hort.

MAY 2010

© copyright brian g. crane & associates 2012 1

AVENUES, ALLEES AND BOULEVARDS

Definitions, culture, layouts, management

This seminar addresses the historical, cultural and landscape implications of linear tree

features within the wider contexts of urban design, landscape and environmental

management. My submission will consider the definitions of avenues, boulevards and allees,

and their derivations, to examine avenue planting patterns, to take an overview of a number

of important or famous avenues with a brief look at their historical contexts, to briefly

examine management issues and to consider cultural implications.

It would be appropriate to start with a definition of each of the three kinds of linear planting

under consideration. Here, we must be aware that there is a significant difference in cultural

reference between the grand avenue plantings, largely made in rural settings during the 18th

century and the urban plantings which arose mainly in the 19th

century.

The term ‘avenue’ was probably first used in English in John Evelyn’s important early

arboricultural work ‘Sylva’. The Concise Oxford Dictionary gives two main definitions.

First ‘a broad road or street, often with trees at regular intervals along its sides’ and ‘a tree

lined approach to a country house’. The word was probably derived from the French ‘venir’

or the Italian ‘venire’, both meaning to come or to arrive.

Boulevard is derived from the Dutch ‘bolwerk’ – bulwark. This was a defensive structure

usually an earthwork. The adaptation of the word into French as ‘boloard’ appears to have

taken place in 1435 and the word has since been altered to ‘boulevard’. The mere jump of

this word from Dutch to French and its subsequent alteration in meaning reflects not only on

the widespread adoption of these landscape features, but also the political and social drivers

present in mainland Europe at that time. The word boulevard currently seems to be generally

applied to an avenue with a central strip for pedestrians aligned between two or more

carriageways. An example of this is Unter den Linden in Berlin.

Plate 1

The main avenue at the

Palace of Versailles. Such

plantings were a clear

manifestation of royal

power

© copyright brian g. crane & associates 2012 2

Allee is derived from the French word ‘aller’ (to go) and is widely used as an alternative to

‘avenue’ in Europe, an example of this being its use in Sweden and Germany. The word is

often associated with pedestrian avenues. It may be also applied to linear features which act

as enclosures, such as the outdoor ‘rooms’ and walkways at the Palace of Versailles.

In defining what makes a linear grouping of trees an avenue, boulevard or allee, I would

contend that the overriding characteristic is visual uniformity. A disparate planting of species

which are mixed in heights and shapes (such as many of the suburban plantings made in

Britain following the Second World War) does not, in my view, constitute an avenue,

boulevard or allee. These, by the strength of their linear uniformity constitute strong and

distinctive landscape elements.

In considering linear plantings of trees, we may separate them as indicated above into:-

those associated with particular grand properties, mainly in rural areas and

those within urban areas.

Plantings associated with stately homes, palaces and castles

These tend to have relevance only in the context in which they were planted. Many were

sited so as to give views of the house from other parts of the landowner’s property or to lead

the eye to a particular feature, such as a statue or folly. They may be seen as expressing both

the temporal power and the power over nature of the landowner. The owners of grand

properties have shown a historical tendency to think forward in providing for future (related)

owners. Avenues in these settings are generally planted in straight lines. Straight lines do

not occur naturally in nature and the planting of large trees in straight lines, at regular

intervals, is a clear manifestation of a desire to express the land owners’ exertion of power.

This can possibly be seen most clearly in the formal avenues of the Palace of Versailles,

particularly from the rear of the house where the main avenue disappears into the middle

distance expressing the King’s dominance over all he could see. A further example of this

may be seen in the ‘goosefoot’ arrangement of avenues originally planted at Hampton Court.

This metaphorically projected the King’s power outwards from the seat of his power.

Plate 2

Plantings associated with

country houses were

commonly made during

the 18th

Century in

Britain. This example at

Wollaton Hall in

Nottingham shows clear

evidence of replanting at

different periods (note

trunk girths), however

the overall impression is

one of uniformity and

continuity – somewhat

marred visually by a

single, taller, tree.

© copyright brian g. crane & associates 2012 3

Avenues were planted around grand houses during the 18th

century in Britain, largely as a

result of the influence of the King, William of Orange, a former Low Countries land owner.

Important examples may be seen at Castle Ashby in Northamptonshire (3 miles – 4.8

kilometres - long) and Wimpole Hall in Cambridgeshire (3.5 miles – 5.6 kilometres - long).

The Low Countries are generally flat and the use of avenues as a landscape future lent itself

to this kind of topography, however in Britain, land form is generally more rolling and the

effects of long straight lines through such countryside was sometimes lost. An interesting

example of the attempts to achieve long views into a property may be seen at Castle Ashby

where a small hill was partly levelled by hand in order to afford views along the avenue.

Many avenues suffered from the attentions of proponents of the English Landscape School,

which attempted a more natural interpretation of landscape and garden design. Several

important avenues were destroyed by Lancelot ‘Capability’ Brown and his followers.

Examples of such destruction may be seen at both the two sites mentioned.

The social and historical values inherent in these ‘country house’ avenues may, arguably, be

seen as restricted to the owners and occasional visitors. Nowadays, the properties which

support them may be open for public viewing, however, their relevance to the everyday life

of most citizens, both in the past and the present is questionable.

Linear plantings in urban areas

The presence of these plantings in areas where ordinary people lived and worked made them

enormously relevant. Public plantings of this type largely originated in the mid-19th

century,

coincidentally and for differing reasons, in a number of European countries at the same time.

In Britain, this occurred following the passing of a number of Acts of Parliament, prompted

by philanthropic motives, concerned with public health. These allowed for Local Authorities

to plant trees alongside roads for which they had the responsibility of maintenance.

Fortunately, in many areas, this was seen as a way of upgrading the appalling urban

conditions consequent on the rapid, largely unplanned, expansion of towns and cities during

the Industrial Revolution. In many areas, the roadside trees planted during this period are

still in existence. It is interesting that, at the same time, in Barcelona, the pioneering town

planner Ildefons Cerda planted straight urban thoroughfares with large trees within the

Eixample area which was developed following the removal of the old defensive walls of the

city.

Plate 3

The design proposal

for the construction of

the ‘Eixample’ in

Barcelona. The ‘grid’

street pattern is visible.

The Old City is

indicated by the dark

area. The well-known

avenue, Las Ramblas

is indicated by a red

arrow.

© copyright brian g. crane & associates 2012 4

In Paris, Baron Haussmann was levelling the mediaeval city and building wide boulevards,

including probably the most famous avenue in the world – the Champs Elysee - which runs

on to the Avenue Grande Armee, and now extends into the La Defence business area to give a

boulevard 5.5 miles (8.8 kilometres) in length. These wide Parisian thoroughfares, whilst

aesthetically pleasing, and lined with trees, had another more practical and perhaps less

attractive use. They were wide enough to rush troops and artillery from

their barracks to areas of unrest quickly and they were also wide enough to make the erection

of barricades difficult. It seems that the French (who take their politics seriously) had

memories of The Revolution at this time and Napoleon III had no desire to follow Louis XIV

to the guillotine. The Champs Elysee and Avenue Grande Armee run through areas of

parkland as well as residential and business areas, however the high, established tree

population allows for a uniformity of landscape structure, despite differences in species, ages

and management - which varies from formal pleaching within the café areas of La Defence,

to pruning the inner (road) lines of trees with laser-guided machinery.

Plate 4

The Champs Elysee,

Paris. One of the

most important

avenues in the world

and a source of great

national pride. The

avenue passes through

a variety of settings

along its length whilst

maintaining its strong

linear definition.

Plate 5

An illustration from 1691 of

the ‘Linden Allee’ later to

become ‘Unter den Linden’,

Berlin – an avenue which

traced the course of 20th

Century history from the

aftermath of World War I,

through the Weimar, Nazi

and Cold War eras to its

present position at the heart

of the capital of a unified

Germany.

© copyright brian g. crane & associates 2012 5

The wide boulevards of the Continent became social centres. It was considered fashionable

to ‘take the air’ beneath the trees and a café society developed in many areas. One of the

most famous (possibly notorious) of these was Unter den Linden in Berlin. At first glance,

this would appear to fall into the urban planning grouping; however the initial planting was

made in 1647 along a path running to the Elector’s hunting lodge. The avenue ends at the

Brandenburg Gate, where it meets the Strasse 16 June. The latter was merely a cutting

through the trees of the Tiergarten, but recent formal avenue plantings are now establishing

adjacent to the roadside. Unter den Linden’s heyday came during the Weimar Republican

period, when it was an outdoor meeting place in what, at the time, was considered one of the

most decadent cities in Europe. One of the most portentous historical events to take place in

any avenue occurred here. Adolf Hitler was appointed as Reichskancellor of Germany on 30

January 1933 and a mass rally was held beneath the Brandenburg Gate. Photographs of the

period show that established trees were removed and one source states that Hitler’s aide

Goering ordered this to fit more people into the space; however another source states that

trees were removed in 1934 to allow the works for the S-Bahn railway to go ahead. The

avenue was destroyed during the fall of Berlin and replanted by the East German Government

in the 1950s. They appear to have used Tilia tomentosa – a native of the Balkans, which of

course would have been within the Soviet sphere of influence. It is likely that the original

plantings would have been of European lime (Tilia x europaea) – this part of north Germany

has an affinity with this hybrid, one variety (T. e. ‘Moltke’) being named after a famous

Prussian general.

AVENUES, ALLEES AND BOULEVARDS

13brian g. crane 2010

16 metre wide strip between carriageways

Central area was re-planted after World War II by the East German Government. Trees are silver-leafed form of lime, possibly Tilia tomentosa, planted opposite at 8.5 metres centres, heights 14 to 15 metres, branches forming at 2.5 to 3 metres, dbhs 15 to 55 cm. Cavities caused by poor quality pruning noted on trunks of older trees. Light dead wood present.

3 lane road either side of central space

Trees in outer lines are mostly T. x europaea, with some T. tomentosa. Many trees are younger than those in the central plantings. Some Tilia ‘Greenspire’.

Unter den Linden, Berlin,

Cold War period

Plate

7

© copyright brian g. crane & associates 2012 6

Great Britain was slow to adopt the idea of outdoor leisure, partly due to the weather and

partly to local planning rules and bye-laws. The unplanned development of many British

town centres and the chronic restrictions on land availability meant that the construction of

the archetypical boulevard with its central strip was unusual and pavements in many parts of

Britain were generally not suited for open-air dining or recreation and tree-lined roads were

simply that. The situation has changed in recent years, controls having been relaxed in many

areas. This coupled with the pedestrianisation of some town centres has led to an

appreciation of the tree as an important element of the street scene. It is not easy to say that

this has taken place in association with linear plantings, although this is true in some

instances. However, in more recent years, linear plantings, often designed to accent built

forms have become more popular. Where these can be adopted to outdoor leisure use, café

proprietors have been quick to do this, although we have a long way to go before we can rival

the outdoor chess ‘rooms’ of the Luxembourg Gardens in Paris. There are some management

problems in London, where lengthy urban avenues may pass through several Boroughs,

which may implement different management regimes, occasionally leading to the

incongruous sight of trees being pollarded on one side of a road and maintained with high

crowns on the other.

The term ‘allee’ is less easy to define. My own view is that it applies both to linear tree

features along roads, and to such features in areas where only pedestrian traffic is permitted.

Allees are frequently maintained by close clipping and the outdoor rooms of Versailles or the

walkways around the Hofburg and Belvedere Palaces in Vienna are examples of clipped or

pleached allees. The word does have wider usage in the European context. For example,

tree plantings along Swedish roads are called allees – one interesting practical use here is that

they define routes in time of heavy snow.

Avenues and boulevards within urban areas affect the wider environment both physical and

spiritual in terms of landscape continuity, carbon sequestration and storage, ground water

control and micro-climate effect. Their management is fraught with the problems common to

all urban trees, competition for space, both above and below the ground, the expenses of

management, the conflict between man and any aspect of the natural world. The more

developed a city, the more intense the pressures on trees within its boundaries, the more

essential these are resolved for the physical and mental health of the inhabitants.

Plate 7

Unter den Linden – present

day. A slow return is being

made to the café society of

the inter War period.

© copyright brian g. crane & associates 2012 7

Planting patterns

A number of planting patterns and variations on these may be identified. Frequently, the

pattern adopted depends on the amount of land available. Thus we may see the quincunx

pattern, effectively three rows either side of a central ride or drive, is land extensive and

heavy in demand of planting material. The simplest avenue planting is the single row either

side of a drive or road. This may be opposed or alternate. The semi-quincunx pattern falls

between the two ‘stools’. The original planting pattern will become important when

regeneration of a neglected or moribund avenue is considered, particularly as there will be

problems posed by inter-row shading.

These planting patterns, the more land-extensive of which are mainly seen in Britain in the

‘country house’ context have been adopted into urban plantings on the Continent.

Plate 8 – The above drawings have been taken from Crane, B.G. (2001) An Evaluation of the Management

Options Available for the Regeneration of Neglected Avenues. Arboricultural J. 24, 1 pp. 23-57.

It would be wrong however, to define all linear plantings within the definitions imposed by

tradition or history. Very effective use of the form is being made by landscape and urban

designers in non-traditional settings – their relevance in our context being their heavy

reliance on visual uniformity to achieve their effect.

© copyright brian g. crane & associates 2012 8

The need for management

Management of any feature which relies heavily on its uniformity for effect becomes

problematic as the feature begins to fail. Reasons for failure may include people pressure,

senescence or damage affecting long term safety and viability. Very serious consideration

should be given to the formulating of any plan for future management. Before any action is

taken a detailed assessment of the avenue as a resource should be undertaken. Frequently

when hard data is presented, particularly in visual format, management objectives may

become clearer.

Plate 9

The strong lines of this modern design rely

heavily on the fastigiate forms of the trees,

coupled with the defined linear nature of

the planting and hard landscape.

Plate 10

Colour coding was

used to identify the

relative condition of

trees within this

avenue which runs

either side of a busy

North London road.

© copyright brian g. crane & associates 2012 9

Once sufficient data has been collected, alternative management options must be considered.

Sadly, many tree managers forget that there are ALWAYS two management options. The

first is to DO NOTHING! It may not be our generation’s turn to carry out major works.

There are then two further options should work be necessary: manage existing trees to

prolong their safe, useful life expectancies or replant – either completely or partially.

Plate 11

An initial

assessment using

infra-red

photography was

carried out to

establish the

general condition

of horse chestnuts

(Aesculus

hippocastanum) in

this north London

avenue. Further

detailed inspection

was carried out

with a view to

informing a

management

strategy.

Plate 12

People pressure in the popular tourist destination

of Barcelona has led to deterioration in

environmental conditions for London planes

(Platanus x acerifolia).

© copyright brian g. crane & associates 2012 10

Conclusion

We have considered the differing types of linear plantings within the ‘rural’ and urban

contexts and the alternative social implications of their creation. We have discussed the

history, in brief detail of some avenues and examined, again briefly, the needs for

management and more importantly, the need to accurately define any such need. We may

useful close by posing the questions: What are the fundamental differences in the benefits

conferred by urban and ‘country house’ avenues. How should these benefits be developed

and exploited and how should the differences inform future management.

Brian Crane May 2010.

Plate 13

The ‘Dark Hedges’, Co. Antrim,

Northern Ireland. The

atmosphere of this senescing

beech (Fagus sylvatica) avenue

is provided by the twisting,

almost goblin, windcut shapes of

the crowns. Any future

management suggestions must

address maintaining the

unworldly ambience the trees

present.

Plate 14

An avenue of camphor trees

(Cinnamonum camphora) in

Kirstenbosch Botanic Gardens,

Cape Town, South Africa. The

avenue is reputed to have been

planted by Cecil Rhodes.