SITE HISTORIES Early on we understood that our role in this project would be equal parts artist and curator. We imagined being an artist invited to consider the material and the site for the development of new work. We knew how vital the individual trees histories and a history of the wider site would be for any commissioning processes to come. Other than the System Garden, detailed knowledge of tree planting within the boundary of the University was not coming to us in the form of records. We decided to interview two key figures, the current custodians of the plan, head grounds person Andrew Gay and arborist Virginia McNally. We recorded their knowledge of the specimens being removed, tree by tree, to collect as much currently held information around the planting and species selection processes as possible. The filmed interviews brought out additional information about the site, knowledge on trees that had been planted but not thrived, their understanding of the suitability of species to certain locations and their potential interaction with the buildings. We also commissioned John Matthews to provide the wider context, charting the development of the University site from the perspective of tree planting. His exploration followed masterplans, schemes and the individuals that might affect the thinking and historical sequences of tree planting within the boundaries of the Parkville campus. “The first years of the University’s formation were clearly difficult and this can perhaps be evidenced in the high turn-over of formally appointed gardeners, beginning first in May 1856 with William Hyndman and then essentially one per year until the arrival of Alexander Elliot in December of 1861.2 Elliot was responsible for the continued development and maintenance of the renowned System or Botanic Garden3, in the campus’ northwest corner and oversaw the creation of the ornamental lake and the development of the Main Drive and Wilson Hall plantings. He was arguably the most significant gardener at the Carlton campus, becoming a familiar name to Melbournians through his appearances at gardening shows and considered advice, routinely featured in gardening articles of the day; he died in office in 1901.” John’s site research indicated surprisingly few overarching schemes we could match to the presence / location of individual trees. It seemed the creation of Parkville came about through a more responsive, trial and error approach with clear fingerprints few and far between. However, the Parkville campus has undoubtedly become a significant site for trees in Melbourne. Through the re-use and re-purposing of timbers salvaged, this project builds on a history of arbor culture at the University of Melbourne that deserves more research and better recognition.
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