30 Trees: And Why Landscape Architects Love Them
Edited by Ron Henderson; Basel, Switzerland:

Birkhäuser, 2024; 232 pages, $53.99.
Reviewed by Pollyanna Rhee
A mention of John Evelyn?s Sylva, or, a Discourse of Forest-Trees, and the Propagation of Timber in His Majesty?s Dominions (1664) comes early in 30 Trees: And Why Landscape Architects Love Them. Both books, separated by 360 years, share an interest in making sense of the world through the study and cultivation of tree species. Evelyn, a productive diarist and writer, opined on a wide range of topics: gardens, theology, and the English monarchy. He lived for much of the 17th century and into the 18th, a time of the country?s massive colonial expansion that sent its people seaward in search of land and resources. Evelyn wrote Sylva in response to a grave concern of the Commissioners of the Navy; as a result of wood?s value for military and domestic use, England?s forests risked becoming depleted. This tree problem needed a tree solution. Published by the Royal Society and a bestseller of its day, Sylva included a glossary of terms that mere foresters or woodmen might need, including ?heterogeneous,? which meant repugnant, and ?homogenous,? denoting agreeable. 30 Trees offers a good amount of heterogeneity in its contents. Its editor, Ron Henderson, FASLA, understands diversity as a value. A professor at the Illinois Institute of Technology and founder of Lirio Landscape Architecture, he brings together more than 30 co...