Columns & Coffee: The Trees of Washington Park

SATURDAY JULY 13, 2024
8:30 am GATHER & COFFEE
9:00 am WALKING TOUR
GATHER:
Washington Park
Denver, CO 80209
*Meet in the park near the corner of South Downing St & Virginia Ave*
$10 Members, $15 General, Free for Students
Registration is Required, Space is Limited
Washington Park was designed in 1899 by Reinhard Schuetze. Completed in 1904, the 165-acre rectangular park is one of the largest of the fifteen parks that comprise the Denver Park and Parkway System. Schuetzen’s original plan, much of which remains intact today, was modeled after the work of French landscape architect Edouard Francois Andre and German landscape gardener Gustav Meyer. Schuetze laid out curving paths, expansive lawns edged by groves of mature shade trees, and introduced two lakes which were fed by the City Ditch and flanked by Russian willows.
Over the following decades, as land was acquired to complete the park’s initial plan, several designers elaborated on Schuetze’s design. In 1908, at the height of the City Beautiful era, George Kessler integrated new roads, pathways and planting schemes. In the 1910s, the Olmsted Brothers firm incorporated rolling Evergreen Hill, the Lily Pond, the Boat House, a lawn bowling green with views toward Mt. Evans, and new pedestrian pathways and recreational activities. Throughout the 1920s and 30s, S. R. DeBoer, Denver’s chief landscape architect, managed the space, adding the Perennial Garden in 1918 and the Martha Washington Garden in 1926. In 1930, the Eugene Field House, a Victorian-style cottage, was relocated to the park and surrounded by evergreens, courtesy of Molly Brown, the Titanic survivor and local philanthropist. The park was listed in the National Register of Historic Places in 1986. Source: The Cultural Landscape Foundation
Washington Park, at the present, has nearly 2,000 trees. The current species count is estimated to exceed 90 with the most prominent being the Silver Maple (Acer saccharinum) and Colorado Blue Spruce (Picea pungens). There are numerous Champion Trees throughout the park. The park is divided into 3 sectors, North Sector Trees- 25 trees, Central Sector Trees 20 trees and South Sector Trees 30 trees. Join us for a morning with Professor Jim Klett to learn more about the beautiful trees in one of Denver’s most infamous parks.
Jim Klett is Professor Emeritus of Landscape Horticulture and an Extension Landscape Horticulturist at Colorado State University. He has been at CSU for over 43 years and taught in the areas of plant identification of herbaceous and woody plant materials, nursery production and management, and community and urban forestry. He continues to work directly with the Green Industry of Colorado, especially the greenhouse, nursery, arboriculture, garden center and landscape contractor industries. His research has dealt with both herbaceous and woody plant evaluation and introduction, water requirements of landscapes plants, productions related issues with herbaceous plants including stock plant management and propagation of new and difficult to propagate herbaceous plants along with other culturally related concerns with landscape plants. Jim retired officially from Colorado State University on January 1, 2023 but still is somewhat active finishing with graduate students and assisting in research projects that continue into his retirement. He is still active working on several projects benefiting the Green Industry of Colorado.

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