DREER report #1

Christopher Keil
Czech Republic
August 2009
http://chrisinprague.posterous.com/

To everyone who is taking the time to read this, I first would like to say thank
you because if you are interested in this adventure of mine then you also played a
role in making it happen. I am beginning my fourth week in the Czech Republic
and so far things are going great from all perspectives. I really need to also thank
Dipl. Arch. Jan Hendrych (equivalent of Ph.D. in architecture) right off the bat for
taking genuine interest in my work and research goals and putting in a lot of his
own valuable time to show me around and set up projects. Jan is the head of the
Department of Cultural Landscapes and Sites at the Silva Tarouca Research
Institute. The institute is an amazing facility located approximately 14km from the
center of Prague. I have yet to fully explore the institute, the adjacent landscape
park and nearby dendrological garden but more details and photos of these places
will certainly follow. The institute, which is largely government funded, has many
departments under one roof and research is the major focus. Landscape ecology,
GIS applications, photopathology (sic), bio-fuel research, and nursery production
are just some of the departments located at the institute. Suffice it say that there
are many experts and specialists within this institute that are all contributing to
horticultural science and landscape architecture in the Czech lands and beyond.
It is already clear that much of valuable information that I acquire during my
stay here will be from observations outside or ancillary to my scope of work at the
institute which will be specific and project-based. I will therefore be maintaining
a blog (see address above) that will elaborate on some of the issues that I face
during my work. Furthermore, interesting observations in areas such as urbanism,
architecture, or even hardscaping which are not explicitly related to horticulture
or my DREER work but could still be of interest to any readers of this report, will
be posted there.
Prague is about 50° N latitude so now days are a little bit longer than in New
York. The weather has been warmer and wetter than usual this spring and the
USDA hardiness zone for Central Bohemia is generally 6 though it can be 5 at
higher elevations. Therefore there are many similar species tree and shrub species
to those of Ithaca. Patches of forest share the same dominant tree Genera such
Oak, Linden, Beech or Maple as well. On a species level there is a lot of difference
in both urban areas, the countryside, and forests. Firstly, several American
species like Red Oak (Quercus rubra), and Black Locust (Robina pseudoaccacia) are
considered invasive. On the flipside, Norway maple (Acer platanoides) is a
common native species in the forest and urban landscape. Linden (Tilia sp.) and
Horsechestnut (Aesculus x hippocastanum) are very common in urban areas and
there many gorgeous Poplar (Populus sp.) species in the countryside. Small-leaved
Linden (Tilia cordata) is considered the national tree of the Czech Republic and
seems to be the most heavily planted urban tree. These were some of my
immediate observations upon first arrival. I will get into more detail and show
specific examples in the coming weeks.
 As far as actual work at the institute, I will probably end up balancing a couple
different projects of varying levels of detail. The first project that I have begun to
work on relates to the restoration of Veltrusy Park. The park was developed
originally in Baroque style in association with the summer chateau of the Chotek
family. The park was then remade in the English landscape garden style, as was
common for many parks in Europe during the Landscape Garden Revolution. The
site now bears many similarities to Stowe and Stourhead and other important
English Parks. There are several notable romantic follies, pavillions, statutes and
classical features that are in various states of disrepair or restoration. Many of the
buildings and structures are in good shape but the garden and landscape areas are
typically in a worse state. The park stands in the flood plain of the Vltava River on
the rich alluvial soils of an old river meander. After several major floods from
1764 to 1785, the park was transformed from a French-inspired to an English-
inspired landscape park. There are significant forest areas, though much of the
land is agricultural. The creation of a functional yet aesthetically concerned large
scale hobby farm was a major goal of the redesign. Under communism, intensive
agricultural production rather than leisure and aesthetic harmony became the
focus and much of the site suffered sever neglect. Since the fall of communism, in
1989, the park has seen a great deal of restoration which is ongoing and
incremental based on funding availability. Hopefully some of my work will become
part of this effort. As of now there are three specific aspects of the park
restoration that I will be working on directly:
1. Restoration of a tree allee
2. Design of a wetland garden and channel restoration
3. River trail layout and accompanying tree plantings
So far most of my work days have been spent in site visits and less time in the
office, but this will change in the fall when I will spend more time inside with
production work. I am curious to see if any of my proposals get implemented as I
have been warned over and over again about the bureaucratic barriers that
confronts any design project. However, the park preservation office is excited
because they can acquire financing for construction easily, but not for research
and design so it seems like a great opportunity for everyone involved. The
proposal will include a management plan for existing tree, shrub and herbaceous
species as well as technical planting plans for all three sites. So far I have been
collecting base materials and taking some time to explore the facility and nearby
towns and villages. There are some fascinating examples of urban horticulture
that I am documenting in the process. Please take time to check out the website
for some images and more detail.