Disneyland Landscaping At 50

Walt Disney was not impressed by American amusement parks, calling them "awful, smelly, dirty, and not particularly safe.?EUR??,,????'?? Landscaping would be at the heart of his revolutionary creation, which opened 50 years ago this summer.

Disneyland turns 50 this July 17. On that date in 1955, a year of frenzied construction ended and Frank Sinatra, Walt Disney and other celebrities welcomed thousands of visitors to the theme park. Landscaping was (and is) a key to Disney's vision of a clean, pleasant place where guests feel comfortable lingering (and spending money) instead of just visiting for an hour or two. In this respect, landscaping was the key to making Disneyland more profitable than the old-style amusement park.

The following short history of the park's landscaping is adapted from Disneyland enthusiast Jason Schultz's website, www.mouseplanet.com

--Erik Skindrud

Orange County, Calif. resident Richard Nixon and family join Walt Disney at a ceremony launching Disneyland's iconic monorail in 1955.

The task of landscaping Disneyland went to Jack and Morgan "Bill" Evans. Walt Disney had met the brothers while building a custom railroad at his Holmby Hills, Calif. home. The brothers helped run the Evans & Reeves Nursery and catered to the monied enclaves of Beverly Hills and Brentwood, introducing hard-to-find plant species and taking on varied landscaping assignments.

After proving themselves competent landscapers, Disney called the Evans brothers to Anaheim, which was then semi-rural and lush with orange groves. Within days they toured the site and began contemplating the job's magnitude. Their first task was to select dozens of on-site trees worth saving. The advantage of keeping original trees was twofold: not only was it cheaper than hauling in new ones, it also gave the park an established look.

The brothers worked with Disneyland site planner Marvin Davis, an associate Disney had lured from 20th Century Fox. By placing a transparency of the master plan over an aerial photograph - showing the locations of all the trees - the landscapers were able to determine which trees and shrubs they could keep. One group of trees turned out to be so important that the location of Adventureland was moved to save them. Behind City Hall was a cluster of eucalyptus trees that provided a natural break and also ?EUR??,,????'??themed?EUR??,,????'?? well with the exotic locales Adventureland required.

The trees, it turns out, are the only things along Disneyland's Main Street that date from the early 20th century.