Creating a Landscape

Imagine the college class of 2075 sitting under a tree of this grandeur:

The students would feel their prospects were unlimited, the future stretching forward endlessly.

On October 2, 1894, Stephen B. L. Penrose arrived in Walla Walla, Washington as the third president of Whitman College. a position he held for 40 years. In 1906 he sent a letter to John Charles Olmsted, who at the time was working on landscape projects in Seattle, Portland and other cities in the Pacific NW. Penrose invited Olmsted to Walla Walla to submit proposals for the development of the Whitman College campus and the city of Walla Walla. The Walla Walla city council declined to consider Olmsted’s proposal, leaving Penrose to foot the bill for the work. The college, however, implemented Olmsted’s plan for the campus. Much of the campus as it exists today is the result of Olmsted’s original proposal.¹

John Charles Olmsted was the nephew and adopted son of Frederick Law Olmstead. In his youth, while still in his twenties, the father visited landscape parks and estates across northern England. Among the parks were Birmingham Botanical Gardens, Derby Arboretum, and Birkenhead Park, among the first parks open to the public. During his month-long walking tour in 1850 the elder Olmsted would have seen many of the parks designed 100 years earlier by Capability Brown.

For Olmstead the veil was lifted; the landscapes he experienced in 1850 were revelatory. Although he would not begin work on New York’s Central Park until 1858, he now knew what he wanted and how to achieve it. He would design parks that would reflect, to use the indelible phrase,

Nature As God Intended

The South Lawn

The south lawn of Cordiner Hall is nearly the size of a football field. It is essentially an open lawn, with a few elements scattered about.

Elements on the South Lawn:

1. The White fir at the extreme southeast corner of this image, at the intersection of South Park Street and Boyer Ave, was removed in the summer of 2023 during upgrades to the underground heating systems. The tree had not been thriving.
2. Soaring Stones #4, the sculptural installation along Boyer Avenue, lies along the south edge of the lawn.
3. Set almost exactly in the center of the lawn, as if the gardeners used a compass and protractor, is a mature weeping Paper Birch tree.
4. At the west end of the lawn is a clump of two trees, an Ailanthus altissima and a Maple.
5. Wrapping the southeast corner of the building are 5 (?) Eastern Redbuds. These trees are set in a grass strip approximately 12′ wide, which runs along the entire length of the building.

Preparing the site

Birch trees, including the Paper Birch (Betula papyrifera) and the Silver Birch (Betula pendula), are a familiar sight in Walla Walla, perhaps due to their distinctive white bark. Birch trees are a short-lived species, rarely living longer than 125 – 200 years. The tree below, in Pioneer Park, was photographed in August when all the surrounding trees are still in full leaf.

Birches prefer woodland habitats with moist ground. During drought, birch trees – which need consistent and deep irrigation – will show signs of stress such as dead branches. Birches do not thrive in Walla Walla’s harsh, dry climate. We recommend that this tree be removed as part of the renovation of the south lawn.

One of the trees in the west cluster is an Ailanthus altissima. Ailanthus is native to China but is now classified as an invasive species in at least 23 countries. Many cities in Washington state have management programs to limit the spread and some have eradication programs. It is considered a noxious weed due to its allelopathic properties and is on the plant quarantine list and can not be sold or distributed in Washington State.

Ailanthus over two feet in diameter present a special safety hazard, as they become hollow and are vulnerable to failure in high winds. A mature tree in flower, like the one on the south lawn (pictured below), produces over 350,000 seeds annually and is a detriment to the community’s urban canopy.

The Ailanthus was introduced to the US twice: to the east coast in 1784 and to the west coast in the 1850s. We have no record of when it was first brought to Whitman. It’s likely that the first two Ailanthus trees planted on the Whitman campus (one was blown down in the great storm of 2008) are the source of all the invasive colonies in Walla Walla.²

Recreating the South Lawn

from this:

to this:

The South Lawn of Cordiner Hall is currently an undistinguished, under-used space.

Planting one (or two?) Atlas Cedars (Cedrus atlantica) would transform an important gateway to the campus from an under utilized space into a dramatic, unforgettable greenspace. Moreover, Atlas cedars would complement the striking architecture of Cordiner Hall.

Walla Walla has environmental conditions similar to the Atlas Cedar’s native range in the Atlas mountains of North Africa. True cedars do not require trimming; pruning destroys their unique horizontal growth habit.

The cost would be negligible; perhaps an alumni class could be encouraged to provide funding. Ten foot trees are available locally, and larger trees are available from nurseries that ship.

This would be an easy upgrade to the campus, with small investment and a significant return in cultural, environmental, and aesthetic value.

Historical note

Cordiner Hall was dedicated in April, 1968. Soon after construction a line of five or six Atlas Cedars was planted along the building, as seen in the photo below. This was a valiant, early attempt to marry the right tree with the modern architecture. As is often the case, these trees were incorrectly used as foundation plants and they quickly outgrew their space. It became necessary to remove them, most likely within 10 – 15 years.