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 Garden 3 , 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.

“The Parkville campus has over 2000 trees and 10,000 shrubs, conservatively valued at $50 million. On campus there are eight trees included on the National Trust Significant Tree Register, and 68 trees on the City of Melbourne’s Exceptional Tree Register.” 4

The current University community inherits the custodianship of the ‘park’ environment of the campus and this next period of development provides an opportunity to acknowledge the past and plan for the future.

“There are hundreds of years of history here,” said Dr Jennifer Henry AWCUM president, whose family has attended the University of Melbourne for four generations, “ my great grandfather was here in the 1920s and some of these trees were already old then ”. 5

Map of Grattan Street trees listed on City of Melbourne’s Exceptional Tree Register 2012

37 trees listed as exceptional at : Melbourne University – 156 Grattan Street, Parkville.

2 Juliet Flesch, Minding the Shop: People and Events that shaped The Department of Property & Buildings 1853-2003 at The University of Melbourne, Melbourne 2004, p 233 3 Conceived by the Professor of Natural Science, Frederick McCoy, with the design assistance and guidance of Bateman, the System Garden was a complex, lengthy and frought undertaking that eventually isolated McCoy from both administrators and gardeners. 4 MUSSE, 15.04.2016 5 Ibid

None of the trees being considered for removal are listed on the City of Melbourne, Exceptional Tree register.

Update – trees to be removed ( received 15.02.2017 )

City of Melbourne Exceptional Tree register

55 58 60 62 64 66 68 70 72 74 76 79 83 87 90 94 98 102 106 Pseudopanax lessonii, Houpara Salix babylonica, Weeping Willow Ginkgo biloba, Maiden Hair Tree Ginkgo biloba, Maiden Hair Tree Fagus sylvatica, Purple Beech Ulmus procera, English Elm – Grevillea robusta, Silky Oak – Maclura pomifera, Osage Orange – Jubaea chilensis, Chilean Wine Palm Taxodium cronatum, Montezuma Cypress Eucalyptus saligna, Sydney Blue Gum Pinus canariensis, Canary Island Pine Phoenix canariensis, Canary Island Palm Eucalyptus cladocalyx, Sugar Gum Eucalyptus camaldulensis, River Red Gum Metasequoia glyptostrobs, Dawn Redwood Ulmus glabra ‘Pendula’, Weeping Elm Picconia excelsa, Canary Island Laurel Platanus Xacerifolia, Plane Tree 57 59 61 63 65 67 69 71 73 75 78 81 85 89 92 96 100 104 108 156 Grattan Street, Parkville

Ulmus procera, English Elm Ulmus procera, English Elm Magnolia grandiflora, Bull Bay – Cedrus deodara, Deodar Cedar – Corymbia maculata, Spotted Gum – Phoenix dactylifera, Date Palm Taxodium distichum, Dawn Redwood Ficus Platypoda, Rock Fig Brachychiton discolor, White Kurrainong Catalpa bignonioides, Indian Bean Tree Magnolia grandiflora, Bull Bay Cedrus deodara, Deodar Cedar Eucalyptus globulus, Blue Gum Eucalyptus camaldulensis, River Red Gum Cussonia spicata, Cabbage Tree Platanus Xacerifolia, Plane Tree Phytolacca dioica, Ombu Corymbia maculata, Spotted Gum Eucalyptus cladocalyx, Sugar Gum

http://www.melbourne.vic.gov.au/SiteCollectionDocuments/exceptional-tree-register.pdf