The Living Tree Museum. A Truly Inspired Concept

Joni Mitchell foretold of a time when
"They took all the trees
Put em in a tree museum
And they charged the people
A dollar and a half just to see em"

We are all familiar with botanical gardens, arboreta and public gardens where plants are grown and displayed so that people may visit, marvel and enjoy. This is not a new concept by any means, but interested parties need to make the effort to visit and educate themselves. A new twist on the idea is emerging in the Netherlands.

On Thursday October 2, 2008 the Minister of Education, Science and Culture, Ronald Plasterk officially opened the Bomenmuseum or Tree Museum.

This is not an arboretum as one might expect, but a subdivision in the capital city of Den Haag (The Hague). The suburb of Wateringse Veld contains a community that upon completion will include 8,000 households. All of the street trees are organized and grouped according to cultivar, genus and family. In addition each street contains a different cultivar. There will be more that 300 different cultivars represented by more than 5,000 trees.

The name of the tree and a drawing of a leaf are engraved on a plaque inlaid into the sidewalks on each street. A guidebook has been created which will be given to each householder in the community. This comprehensive volume contains not only the descriptions of each of the trees but their complete biography including breeding information, myths, interesting facts and family relationships. This book is designed to act as guide for the walking trails throughout the subdivision. Of course this area has full public access, so there is no charge to visit the Tree Museum and the guidebook will be available for purchase locally.

The community is the project of Herman de vries an environmental artist of some renown in the Netherlands. He began planting the trees in 1997 so many of the specimens are reasonably mature at this point. Mr. de vries has dedicated much of his career to enhancing the relationship between people and the natural environment. This community is planned as a living museum to emphasize and display the beauty and diversity of the trees that are available to be grown in the area.

A Living Tree Museum, what a great idea, and no one has to pay to see them, learn their names or be inspired to explore further.

source: De Boomkwekerij