ARBORETUM COMMITTEE
Annual Report 1980 - 1981
During the past academic year the Committee has met on a regular basis about once a month, to review
plans for landscaping and planting and to consider initiatives for the future.
The high point of the year was undoubtedly the completion of Phase I of the relandscaping of the
McCormick Road dormitories. With the collaboration of the Departments of Housing and Physical Plant,
$71,000was expended on a brick retaining wall, a new main entrance, and redesigned walkways along the entire
front of the dormitories. The result has not only redeemed the appearance of the area but has also provided a
certain amenity for the inhabitants of the dormitories as one can see from the numbers of students congregated
on the wall and steps in the spring sunshine. The Committee intends to negotiate for further work in this area in
the near future.
A second long-term project of the Committee has been brought to completion this year. All the trees on
the Grounds have been mapped onto eight master sheets. Copies may be purchased from Mr. Steward in the
Department of Physical Plant. These maps will form the inventory from which the Committee will plan future
plantings.
In the continuing battle to prevent the abuse of the Lower Lawn, the Committee is pleased to note the
accomplishment of its recommendation to widen the walks and improve the corner radii in front of Cocke and
Rouss Halls. Together with bollard-and-chain barriers, the changes may suffice to prevent over use of the grassy
area.
A most unusual contact was established during the year by the visit of the Vice-President of the Chinese
Academy of Forestry, Dr. Wu Chung Lun. Dr. Wu presented the chairman with a collection of seeds from 13
species of trees from southwest China, an area with close botanical relationships to the southeastern United
States. We have distributed seeds to the Department of Physical Plant, the Virginia Division of Forestry, and the
Blandy Experimental Farm for propagation. We hope to plant representatives of these species on the Grounds.
The Committee carried out its customary inspection trip to the Blandy Farm on May 18th and found that
operation in good order. The Director, Mr. Ewert, has made significant advances in its administration. The rental
of the farm property seems to be satisfactory, although the time will shortly arrive for the renegotiation of the
lease. The agricultural program of Lord Fairfax Community College is flourishing, and even showing some
financial return. Progress in cleaning up and labeling the arboretum has been continued. A serious concern is the
recent and continuing mortality among the pine plantings, but this phenomenon is regional rather than specific to
Blandy Farm. Perhaps the problem of greatest long term significance is the decline of federal support for
programs which have supplied the Farm with labor. Much that has been done by Mr. Ewert has been with
subsidize labor. The loss of these people could have an adverse effect, particularly at a time when endowment
support is being eroded by inflation. This problem must be faced by the University in the near future.
During the year the Committee has reviewed and either approved or modified a number of proposed
plans. These include:
1. Planting for the area north of the Bayly Museum.
2. Planting to soften the monstrous bulk of the enlarged Scott Stadium*
3. Planting for the new Medical Parking Garage.
4. Planting for the addition to the Physics Building.
5. Planting to conceal the Hospital's oxygen supply.
Finally, the Committee wishes to report a number of gifts and memorial plantings. The Committee itself
undertook the planting of three Longleaf Pines (Pinus palustris) on the east side of the Chemistry Building in
memory of Mr. Guy Estes, Associate Professor Forestry and Director of the Seward Forest from 1968 until his
retirement. Mrs. Peter Streich presented a Pin Oak (Quercus palustris), planted on the North Grounds in honor
of her father, Mr. Thomas A. McEachern, on the occasion of his 75th birthday. Mr. Will Rieley presented a
Gutta-percha tree (Eucommia ulmoides) to commemorate a birth in his family. Two student projects resulted in
additions to our plantings. Trigon renovated some azalea plantings at Thornton Hall, and Z Society carried out
an extensive landscaping of the area opposite University Hall. Other gifts were presented by Dean Runk and Mrs.
Kayan in memory of Mr. H. LeRoss Browne, Mr. David B. Moyer, Mr. Douglas L. Forsyth, and Gen. E. Sclater
Montague; and by Mrs. Joan C. Parrish in honor of Dean Runk.
The Committee will continue to function on an emergency basis through the summer until the new
Committee takes over for the 1981-1982 session.
Respectfully submitted,
J. J. Murray, Jr.
Chairman
