Big Programme For “Festival Of Trees”

Press, Volume CVIII, Issue 31805, 9 October 1968, Page 18

Big Programme For “Festival Of Trees”

A “Festival of Trees”—sponsored by the Christchurch Civic Trust and supported by many local bodies, by societies concerned with horticulture, beautification, and conservation, and by trade interests—will be held from October 13 to 20 with a programme ranging from lectures to “tree walks” and field trips.

In a souvenir programme listing all events and also containing notes on historic Christchurch trees and on trees suitable for Christchurch gardens, the Civic Trust chairman (Mr John Oakley) says such a festival may be new to Christchurch, but “is it not a splendid idea that we should set aside some special time to do homage to our noble trees?” Mr Oakley recalls that a traveller in October, 1857, wrote of his first sight of Christchurch from the top of the Bridle Path: "A little patch of scattered houses—a mere nothing in the vastness of the plains . . . The land is flat as a pancake, treeless and featureless, except the little river.” What a world of difference in October, 1968, says Mr Oakley. The “Festival of Trees” will open next Sunday afternoon at an exhibition in the Canterbury Society of Arts Gallery in Gloucester Street. After a short prayer of dedication by the Dean of Christchurch (the Very Rev. M. L. Underhill), the opening address will be given by Dr J. T. Salmon, professor of zoology at Victoria University of Wellington, and a noted photographer of New Zealand flora. The exhibition will be opened from 10 a.m. to 9.30 p.m. each week-day. There will be “lecturettes” in the gallery each evening at 8 p.m., as follows—Monday: “The growth of trees in gar-

dens” by Mr E. W. Rodgers, of the Christchurch Beautifying Association; Tuesday: “Noxious animals of the native forest,” by Mr L. W. McCaskill, of the National Parks Authority; Wednesday: "Landscaping,” by Mr J. Morton, of the New Zealand Association of Landscape Designers; Thursday: “Tree surgery and pruning," by Mr J. O. Taylor, chairman of the Canterbury district council of the Royal New Zealand Institute of Horticulture; Friday: "Cultural aspects of trees,” by Mr A. C. Morgan, of the New Zealand Horticultural Trades Association. There will be small charges for admission. From Monday to Friday there will also be film shows in the art gallery at 3 p.m. A novel feature will be walks through the Botanic Gardens, led by Mr R. R. Beauchamp, to inspect historic and notable trees. Those taking part will meet Mr Beauchamp at the museum gates at 11 a.m. each day from Monday to Friday. If there is sufficient demand, there will be bus tours at 10 a.m. and 1 p.m. from Victoria Square each day to see winning gardens in a “Festival of Trees” competition having emphasis on trees. An all-day conference on trees will be held in the Canterbury Museum theatre on Saturday, October 19, beginning at 9.30 a.m. Local-body representatives will attend and the public will be admitted for $l,

After the conference opening by Mr Oakley, Professor P. J. McKelvey, of the Canterbury University School of Forestry, will speak on native forests; Mr J. Sturrock, of the D.5.1.R., on forest shelter belts; Mr G. Malcolm, landscape officer of the Ministry of Works,-on highway landscape; Mr G. Nicholls, supervisor of national parks, on trees in national parks; Mr C. Challenger, senior lecturer in landscape design at Lincoln College, on forestry in the landscape; and Mr P. J. Beaven, an architect, on aesthetic trees in towns.

Some of these speakers will take part in panel discussions in the Gloucester Street art gallery on the Saturday evening. The “Festival of Trees” will close on Sunday, October 20, with a field day at Kennedys Bush. From the Sign of the Bellbird on the Summit Road, members of the Summit Road Scenic Society will show visitors through the bush, to study the regeneration of native trees.