Living Memorials to Honor the Heroic

Living memorials to honor the valor of our heroic dead of our wars is are being considered all over the United States and, indeed, all over the world. Parks for beauty and recreation, arboretums to furnish material for horticultural studies, gardens for cultivation of special plants like roses or camellias, and avenues of trees for shade and comfort are among the most fitting of proposed memorials.

Memorial avenues of trees would not only afford inspiration and charm but would also add much comfort and make permanent memorials that would require little expense to maintain. If the proper trees are planted they will only need to have the lower branches trimmed as they develop. But these trees should never be planted where electric lines run above them, for this means constant topping which spoils their effect. Such plantings can safely be made on newly opened streets where the power lines underground.

An avenue of Darlington oaks (Quercus laurifolia Darlingtonia), called a "Hero Grove," was planted in a city in 1919 to commemorate the soldiers who had given their lives in World War I. There were two rows of these trees, on either side of a broad grass panel, which extend for several city blocks, and were fine specimens and provided good shade to both of the paved highways which form the two-way street. At the beginning of the planting there is a dignified granite marker on which is set a bronze plaque hearing the names of the men from the city and county who made the supreme sacrifice in World War I.

Ginkgo trees, like the Darlington oaks, are pyramidal in form, grow slowly and are disease-free, graceful and beautiful at all times, although they are not evergreen like the Darlington. They are easily pruned to lift them above the streets. The willow, chestnut and white oak are also good for such plantings. Set 60 feet apart they will furnish shade during summer and will never crowd.

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