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One of the best ways to improve a tree?EUR??,,????'???s longevity is to give it more space. This allows more root room, more air circulation over the root area and a greater surface area for either natural or supplemental irrigation to be installed closer to the natural drip line of the tree.
Since Fredrick Law Olmsted was tapped for the master plan of Stanford University there has been recognition of the importance of creating a personal identity for a campus. This ?EUR??,,????'??sense of place?EUR??,,????'?? sets the campus apart and is a back-drop for the unfolding drama that is a vibrant institution. Welcoming the new while preserving the old shows the world that the campus is alive and looking to the future, but that its roots are firmly in the past. One of the most enduring symbols of this binding of the past with the future is the tree.
Trees, by the nature of their longevity and their seasonal changes, engender feelings of timelessness. Unfortunately, this longevity has become more illusion than reality in many urban settings. Some studies have indicated that the average life expectancy of a tree in an urban area may be as little as seven years. For most people this may seem counterintuitive: We learn from childhood that the lives of trees are measured in decades, if not centuries, but for the landscape professional this is an all too acute awareness.
Land is at a premium in most areas and campuses feel this as acutely as cities. The utilization of space must be maximized often at the expense of the park-like landscapes that typified institutions of higher learning until the middle of the last century. As in the city, trees must now live in hardscape, not lawn, and the challenge is to improve their survivability under inherently unnatural conditions. In addition, these new landscapes need to address the needs of human occupants, among which are safety, convenience, and aesthetics, and the concerns of the built environment including maintenance, preservation and aesthetics.
Tree grates have long been tools of the trade for dealing with the interface of the tree within the hardscape environment, and they are becoming more and more important in the campus landscape?EUR??,,????'??+especially extra-large tree grates six feet and over. Large tree grate installations are becoming more common with square tree grate installations of up to 64 square feet, round grates up to 10 feet in diameter, and rectangular four-foot by 16-foot installations.
Large tree grates have other benefits. While improving the tree environment, they can also act as design elements in themselves. The larger grates often better match the large scale of most institutional buildings and help to preserve a sense of openness to plazas and walkways. The tree grate can be substituted for tree well fillers, such as messy mulches and gravels, and for water-thirsty and maintenance-heavy secondary plantings, such as annuals. They help keep trash buildup from collecting in tree wells. Tree grates are available in a wide range of styles and finishes. They can be finished to complement other elements in the environment.
Tree grates are typically cast iron, but some manufacturers, such as Ironsmith, also offer grates in cast aluminum and even bronze. These are all extremely durable materials and can be expected to last for many decades even in their natural unfinished state. In addition, unfinished grates of these metals will age with a natural patina that is aesthetically pleasing while being maintenance free.
Utilizing grates with slot openings one-half inch or less allows for pedestrian traffic over the grates with improved safety for the pedestrian while eliminating soil compaction from repetitive foot traffic. Using large tree grates also reduces the problems of tree roots lifting hardscape walking areas, further improving safety and reducing maintenance.
Under the best of circumstances the survival rate in a maturing landscape may not be 100%. One of the benefits of larger tree grates is that they allow for the subsequent planting of larger more mature trees should an individual tree fail. This means that the repaired landscape can more closely match the maturity of the rest of the installation.
A diverse offering of tree grates are available from Ironsmith of Palm Desert California. Check out their products at www.ironsmith.biz. Eighteen other tree grate manufacturers and their products can be found in LASN?EUR??,,????'???s 2004 May Specifier?EUR??,,????'???s Guide.
Francisco Uviña, University of New Mexico
Hardscape Oasis in Litchfield Park
Ash Nochian, Ph.D. Landscape Architect
November 12th, 2025
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