Dutch Elm Disease Strikes Yard Trees

Twenty years from today the canopy of trees covering Harvard Yard may have completely disappeared, according to two Harvard landscape experts.

Michael Van Valkenburgh, associate professor of landscape architecture at the Graduate School of Design, said the American elms in the Yard are being artificially supported and "inevitably they will be lost."

According to Van Valkenburgh, the elms suffer from several ailments, primarily Dutch elm disease, which affects most elms in the country. There is no known cure for Dutch elm disease.

"This place is going to look very different in 20 years," said Professor of Visual and Environmental Studies John R. Stilgoe. "Nothing can be done about this."

Thomas E. Vautin, administrative director of operations, said the trees are regularly treated and that several have cables reinforcing the joints formed by the branches. But he added that it is only a matter of time before the trees are gone.

Replacement Methods

"As we lose elms...we replace them with oaks and maples and such," said Vautin. "We also work to find strains of elms that are resistant to Dutch elm disease."

But Van Valkenburgh said Harvard is not doing enough to preserve the character of the Yard. "There is a tremendous number of trees removed from the Yard, and only a small number put back," he said.

He added that the recent plantings in the Yard, especially the shrubs and Bradford pear tree in front of Harvard Hall, are "not in the spirit of the vaulted canopy."

Van Valkenburgh said he believes that in order to maintain the Yard's foliage, Harvard must initiate "extensive and aggressive tree planting...so we don't have to wait two generations without trees."