UNC protects its roots

Legend has it that William Davie, the principal founder of the University, chose the location of UNC's campus at the site where the Davie Poplar now stands.

If the tree falls, the legend states, the University of North Carolina system falls with it.

From UNC's establishment to the present, trees and landscaping have always played a prominent role at the University.

Even as the University continues to grow, so too have the roots that connect the buildings and the landscaping.

While construction disturbs landscaping and the University expands, UNC officials are working to ensure that these historical roots and an environmental focus are maintained.

A historical perspective

When Eleanor Morris attended UNC, the campus ended at South Road.

Her father attended the University in the early 1920s, and she followed in his footsteps, graduating in 1955.

"I live in the same house where I grew up, which is about two blocks from the hospital," she said. "I walked to Kenan Stadium and classes through the woods."

Instead of gathering in the Pit, Morris and her friends spent time at the Y court, the current location of the Campus Y.

But Morris said other features of the campus have remained the same.

"I think Polk and McCorkle (places) haven't changed that much," she said. "I do think they've done a wonderful job trying to maintain and preserve it even with construction."

It is these two quads that contain many historic trees, said Tom Bythell, University arborist.

For example, a persimmon tree located on Polk Place is probably the remnant of a forest that once covered part of North Campus.

Bythell said he believes that the tree, which is out of line with the oak trees planted later, stood along with horse chestnut trees that students found useful.

"They would've fostered the tree," Bythell said. "The students could've gone out there and picked fruit to eat."

In the early 1900s, William Coker arrived, establishing the Botany Department and later, Coker Arboretum.

Peter White, director of the N.C. Botanical Garden, said Coker might have used his personal funds to improve landscaping.

"The turn of the century was a time when the South was beginning to assert its own identity," he said.

"(Coker) was trying to demonstrate that the southeastern biodiversity that we have was worthy of celebration."

But Coker also planted several nonindigenous species including incense cedars located outside of Murphey Hall.

After a series of hurricanes caused destruction in Mexico, students traveled to a college there to provide aid to students and local residents. They returned with a living thank you gift - a water oak.

"El Arbol de Amistad," or the friendship tree, located next to Peabody Hall, was given to the University in the 1950s.

Bythell said the act of giving a tree illustrates the importance placed on nature in various cultures.

The construction years

The importance of trees and landscaping is evident by the efforts to preserve this living history.

So a task force on landscape heritage and plant diversity compiled a report, which addresses the need to protect landscapes from impending construction. It was published in January 2005.

The task force recorded every tree on campus and established a protection policy that includes fencing, logging mats, mulch and carefully laid out construction entrances.

"We try to protect every tree," UNC Landscape Architect Jill Coleman said. "If it's not possible then we use the replacement policy."

The replacement policy states that if a tree must be removed because of construction, the diameter of the space it occupied should be measured and later compensated.

Bythell also reintroduces trees species that used to stand on campus, such as horse chestnuts.

"We make sure we are replacing the canopy we are losing," Coleman said.

Although some trees were threatened in the past - such as the tree by Woollen Gym that held Dean Smith's effigy - few now are at risk because of construction.

Duke University faces similar problems with maintaining its canopy.

"Like any campus that's growing, you're going to have issues where expansion is going to come in contact with areas with trees," said Mark Hough, a Duke University campus landscape architect.

But unlike UNC, Duke has no official replacement policy, though Hough said the Durham university replaces more trees than it removes.

A growing plan

Cultivating a landscape is an evolving process.

"You have to be patient," Bythell said. "I'm planting these trees for my children and my grandchildren."

At UNC, the newer parts of campus, Coleman said, require more work to integrate them with North Campus.

"When you compare past to present, with the historic campus, the landscape defined the buildings," she said. "Below South Road, the buildings define the landscape."

South Campus, along with Carolina North, are part of future renovations that will focus on environmental conservation.

"We are becoming more efficient with the use of energy, and landscaping reflects this," Coleman said.

And years after Davie founded UNC by the Davie Poplar, UNC officials say they still understand the importance that nature can have on cultivating a rich academic life and fostering parts of the past.

"There is a great intellectual climate out here," Bythell said of the campus community. "The last thing students need is stress, therefore, a calming landscape around campus would help prevent this."

Contact the University Editor at udesk@unc.edu.