THE SELECTION AND USE OF TREES ON HIGHWAY AREAS

AFTER SOME YEARS OF OBSERVATION AND EXPERIENCE BY STATE HIGHWAY DEPARTMENTS, PARK COMMISSIONS, AND OTHER PUBLIC AND PRIVATE ORGANIZATIONS IN THE NORTHEASTERN AND MIDDLE ATLANTIC STATES, CERTAIN GENERAL PRINCIPLES HAVE BEEN EVOLVED WHICH APPEAR TO CONTROL ROADSIDE TREE PLANTING IN ALL REGIONS WHERE CLIMATIC CONDITIONS PERMIT TREE GROWTH WITHOUT IRRIGATION. BRIEFLY LISTED AND DESCRIBED ARE THE GENERAL DESIGN FACTORS WHICH GOVERN SUCCESSFUL TREE GROWTH ON ROADSIDES IN HUMID REGIONS. GENERAL ECOLOGIC PRINCIPLES ARE OUTLINED WHICH SHOULD CONTROL THE SELECTION AND ARRANGEMENT OF ROADSIDE TREES IN THE REGION COVERED BY THE REPORT. TYPICAL PURPOSES OF PLANTING ARE OUTLINED IN RELATION TO TYPES AND SPECIES OF ROADSIDE TREES. IN THE LIGHT OF THESE PURPOSES FACTORS ARE LISTED WHICH LARGELY CONTROL THE EFFECTIVENESS OF TREE PLANTING ON NORTHEASTERN ROADSIDES. TYPICAL MISTAKES TO BE AVOIDED IN ROADSIDE TREE PLANTING ARE DESCRIBED, WITH REASONS GIVEN WHY SUCH ERRORS SHOULD BE AVOIDED. THE TABLES LIST THE COMMON DECIDUOUS SHADE TREES, DECIDUOUS FLOWERING, AND EVERGREEN TREES WITH ROUGH COMPARATIVE RATINGS OF THEIR VALUE FOR ROADSIDE PLANTING. A BRIEF ANALYSIS IS ALSO GIVEN IN TABULAR FORM OF AN APPROACH TO THE "PLANT INDICATOR" METHOD OF SELECTING TREES FOR ROADSIDE PLANTING, BY OBSERVATION AND STUDY OF EXISTING NATIVE FORMS OF PERENNIAL, SHRUB, AND VINE GROWTH WHICH ARE NORMALLY ASSOCIATED IN NATURE WITH CERTAIN TYPES AND SPECIES OF NATIVE TREES. /AUTHOR/

• Record URL:
  • https://onlinepubs.trb.org/Onlinepubs/hrbproceedings/20/20-030.pdf
• Supplemental Notes:
  • Vol 20, pp 523-548, 11 FIG, 6 TAB, REFS; part of Report of Subcommittee on Plant Ecology, Commitee on Roadside Development. Distribution, posting, or copying of this PDF is strictly prohibited without written permission of the Transportation Research Board of the National Academy of Sciences. Unless otherwise indicated, all materials in this PDF are copyrighted by the National Academy of Sciences. Copyright © National Academy of Sciences. All rights reserved.
• Authors:
  • Gordon, G B
• Publication Date: 1941

Media Info

• Media Type: Digital/other
• Monograph Title: Proceedings of the Twentieth Annual Meeting of the Highway Research Board Held at Washington, D.C. December 3-6, 1940
• Serial:
  • Highway Research Board Proceedings
  • Volume: 20
  • Publisher: Highway Research Board

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Climate; Ecology; Planting; Roadside; Trees; Urban growth
• Uncontrolled Terms: Selecting
• Subject Areas: Design; Environment; Highways;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 00204833
• Record Type: Publication
• Files: TRIS, TRB
• Created Date: Sep 6 1971 12:00AM