number of concerns about the deterioration of the landscape were brought to our attention throughout the planning process-in the Fallingwater Request for Proposal, in the interviews, in the two on-site work sessions and in the presentation to the Advisory Committee. Although these issues are grouped here into separate categories, they are interrelated,
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Photograph of the house in 1962. Paul Mayon
Grounds Maintenance Maintenance, like all other aspects of the Fallingwater site, should be viewed holistically. This means that all landscape maintenance decisions and proposed landscape maintenance projects should be reviewed by a landscape advisory committee which meets at least four times a year on site. This committee should be representative of all the different groups presently involved in landscape decisions: • Fallingwater staff, especially the director, the maintenance and the education staff • Western Pennsylvania Conservancy scientific staff in Pittsburgh • Fallingwater Landscape Advisors • The Fallingwater Advisory Committee Fallingwater is fortunate to have such a competent and caring maintenance staff and it is critical for them to have directions which represent a consensus on maintenance operations. This will enable this small staff to function efficiently and to be an effective tool in realizing a vision for Fallingwater where all the landscapes complement the core experience.
Loss of Canopy Trees around the House Storms have caused the loss of several trees around the house and guest house. Several trees near the guesthouse were also removed when their condition represented a physical hazard to the buildings. Three trees were removed below the south hillside to allow professional photographers an unimpeded view of the house. Some trees on the hillside above the garage courtyard were removed to lower the humidity in order to preserve the structure and the contents of the house from excess moisture by allowing more light and air circulation.
View today shows loss affive large canopy trees in front of the house. (The originalloeations of these trees are shown on the Forest Garden Management Plan.)
While these losses are not very noticeable in themselves, the cumulative effect over time is obvious from historic photographs. At present the forest around the house is maturing from a young second growth forest with many tall, thin stems, to a more mature one with fewer, broader and more widely spaced trunks. Competition with larger trees and with the thick understory of rhododendron has caused the loss of many younger trees. The maturing forest with its older,
An Interpretation and Management Plan for the Landscape of Fallingwater • 9