A beautiful allée of gray birches graces the path to deCordova Museum from its parking lot. These typically short-lived trees, widespread in the Northern Hemisphere, are among the first ones to colonize a forest after a disturbance such as a fire.
Known for the beauty and resilience, birches have become very popular trees for landscaping.
The word “allée” generally refers to a walkway or drive bordered by rows of evenly spaced, even-aged trees of the same species. Nowadays, however, arborists do no recommend planting an allée of only one tree species. If a deadly disease spreads and plagues that type of tree, one might end up losing all the specimens along that path.
The word “allée” generally refers to a walkway or drive bordered by rows of evenly spaced, even-aged trees of the same species. Nowadays, however, arborists do not recommend planting an allée of only one tree species. If a deadly disease spreads and plagues that type of tree, one might end up losing all the specimens along that path.
The word “allée” comes from the old French — “aller” meaning “to go.” Allées were introduced as landscape feature during the Italian Renaissance, which extended from the mid-1300’s to the ned of the 1600’s, and became particularly popular in European royal parks and estates in the 17th and 18th centuries, mostly in France and England. inspired by the allées in Europe, planting tree-lined streets became popular in America in the late 19th century.
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