A significant focus of my landscape architectural work on college and institutional campuses is the re-forestation of mature campus landscapes. The example below describes technical and design issues on the University of Redlands Historic Quad. Note that the oaks on the University of Redlands Historic Quad are the native leafy evergreen tree of the high desert and foothill regions of south eastern California. Groves of native oaks form the main local California native community, providing habitat for birds, native plants and mammals. Native oaks are the main contributor to the region’s biomass as well.
University of Redlands: The most visible asset of the campus is the Quad and the century old grove of Coast Live Oaks (Quercus Agrifolia). The Quad oak trees define views between historic campus buildings and views to the north and east mountains, which visually center the campus in the San Bernardino region. The oak trees on the Quad are all suffering from multiple infestations of borers and diseases. The oaks are all the same age and within the next ten years the decline of the oaks will become visible.
Working with the university’s stakeholders, an approach was developed to inter-plant new trees that will establish and take the place of the mature oaks as they decline. A major challenge to the replacement of the historic oaks is the inter-planted tree spacing layout of the young oaks. There is a range of grid layouts that replace the historic tree spacing, and the one shown (Image #2) is the current status.
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