Sweet Auburn: The Magazine of the Friends of Mount Auburn Mount Auburn as a Horticultural Innovator | Page 6

One of the main
reasons for exploring
Landscape Character
Zones during the
master planning
process was to ad-
dress the relatively
homogenous
character of the
grounds as a whole.
This homogeneity
Above: An elaborately planted lot in the Victorian applied to both the
period,19th-century cabinet card
overhead tree can-
opy and the ground
Below: A recently established curb-lot planting
layer. An example of
on Fountain Ave in the Victorian District. The
the former could be
pea-stone gravel surface applied over weedblock
fabric is a new test, both for aesthetics and for
seen in the fact that
maintenance requirements.
our approximately
390 hemlocks were
spread throughout
the grounds, as were
the 280 flowering
dogwoods and 169
red oaks. With the
ground layer domi-
nated by turf, there
was little distinction
between sections as
one moved through
the landscape.
Changing the tree
canopy will be done
gradually over many years, using opportunities created by
removals as trees die or suffer damage. Changing the ground
layer is where we think the most rapid progress can be made.
Though there is enough work to last decades, some early
efforts have already started making an impact.
A turf experiment that started in 1998, which planted
fescue grasses in the historic core sections of the Cemetery,
showed great potential. These grasses could be left unmowed
for parts of the year and formed a naturalistic meadow-like
turf that reached about 12 inches in height. This yielded two
benefits simultaneously: it allowed an aesthetic treatment
with historical integrity in our naturalistic character zones,
and it fit perfectly within our shift to a more ecologically
sustainable maintenance program. Unfortunately, the emer-
gence of some broadleaf weeds in the turf led to complaints
and the mowing cycle was increased. Because of the potential
the experiment showed, we have not given up hope that it
will work. Presently, a newer blend of grasses is being tried
and a more aggressive weed management component is
expected where the turf is planted. Although this will add
to the initial maintenance requirement and thereby slow
the progress of establishing the naturalistic turf widely, it
might lead to success in the long term.
4 | Sweet Auburn
A second initiative with dual benefits has been our attempt
to remove turf now growing on top of underground tombs
and within lots that are bounded by granite curbing or iron
fences. The location of the underground tombs requires
caution with heavy equipment. The lots with built enclosures
present extra maintenance requirements, since mowing
equipment must be lifted or carried into the lot each time
it is needed. The maintenance also exposes the sometimes
fragile structures to the risk of damage from equipment. A
reasonable solution seems to be replacing turf with alternative
groundcover plantings. These plantings do not require
trimming to remain low, and they also contribute to our
effort to break the homogeneity of grass in the ground plain.
A wide palette of plant choices offers solutions for both the
naturalistic and ornamental landscape character zones.
Transitioning to an Ecologically Sustainable
Landscape
Mount Auburn has been in the forefront of the movement
towards ecologically responsible landscaping. In the 1990s,
we began to phase out most pesticides and synthetic fertil-
Character Zones
As recommended in the Master Plan of 1993, the horticulture program
at Mount Auburn has undertaken a unique landscape preservation
approach. Rather than attempt to restore a particular landscape on
the grounds to its condition at a specific point in time, this approach
attempts to create a tapestry of different landscape styles, each of
which recalls a different period and attitude.
Our map of Landscape Character Zones marks the location of examples
of diverse periods on our grounds (i.e. lavender indicates the Victorian
period style).