FRUIT ALLEYS IN RURAL LANDSCAPE - IN POLAND AND MORAVIA Beata Fortuna-Antoszkiewicz1, Jan Łukaszkiewicz1, Edyta Rosłon-Szeryńska1, Piotr Wiśniewski2 1 Department of Landscape Architecture, Faculty of Horticulture, Biotechnology and Landscape Architecture Warsaw University of Life Sciences, Nowoursynowska 159, 02-776 Warsaw, Poland 2 Department of Environmental Protection of Mokotów District, Municipal Council of Warsaw, Wiktorska 91A, 01-232 Warsaw, Poland Abstract The fruit trees and shrubs present practical (fructification) and significant ornamental values (beautiful and plentiful bloom). Following the example of other European countries, the fruit trees have been extensively planted since the end of 19th century in Poland, among other along roads as part of a country-wide roadside tree planting campaign. However ageing fruit tree alleys without renovation begin to vanish from the rural landscape in Poland. Currently, they may be seen mainly along low- traffic side roads, while the oldest, relic alleys in older parks. In Poland in recent years the number of roadside trees declines among others due to the modernization of local roads. Since 2012 authors of this publication have been observing and documenting existing fruit tree alleys scattered in the rural landscape in Poland. For comparative purposes, in 2018 observations were carried out in Moravia, a region where the tradition of using fruit alleys is exemplary continued - in the landscape, there are numerous old (historical) and contemporary plantings. As an example is “The Longest fruit tree alley in Europe” - an international Polish – Czech - Austrian natural and cultural heritage thematic route „Kraków - Moravia - Wien Greenways”. In selected locations, the following have been examined: features of their spatial form (original tree spacing; row spacing; row distance from the road); tree measurements (breast height circumference; tree height, crown width). Analysis of individual sites allows establishing a level of preservation of the original layout and the estimated age of trees and the entire tree stand. Key words: fruit trees, roadside alleys, historical rural landscapes, Polish and Moravian fruit tree alleys Introduction Fruit trees and shrubs perform significant utility (fruiting) and decorative functions (beautiful, abundant flowering). Due to these specific utilitarian-decorative qualities, fruit trees have already found wider application in the past, among others as a material for planting along roads, e.g. in Poland in the late 19th century, as part of the widespread campaign of establishing roadside shelterbelts, continued in the 1920s and 1930s (Fortuna-Antoszkiewicz, Łukaszkiewicz 2012, 2017), and then in the post-war period (1960s). Fruit alleys for long decades have existed as a traditional element of the agricultural landscape. Similarly to typical roadside plantings, they were of great importance due to specific technical functions: protection against the excessive sun in the summer, protection of the road from wind or blowing snow, marking the course of the road during snowy winter nights. However, ageing, non-renewed fruit alleys are gradually disappearing from the Polish rural landscape. Nowadays, they are found mainly at the side, less frequented roads and the oldest of them, as relic forms in old parks. In recent years fruit roadside shelterbelts have been disappearing, among others as a result of modernization of local roads. Material and methods Since 2012 authors of this publication have been observing and documenting existing fruit tree alleys scattered in the rural landscape in Poland. (Fortuna-Antoszkiewicz, Łukaszkiewicz 2017). For comparative purposes, in 2018 observations were carried out in Moravia, a region where the tradition of maintaining fruit alleys is exemplary continued - in the local landscape there are numerous old (historical) and contemporary such plantings. In selected locations, research was carried out including: features of their spatial form (original tree spacing; row spacing; row distance from the road); tree measurements (breast height circumference; tree height, crown width). Analysis of individual sites allowed establishing a level of preservation of the original layout and the estimated age of trees and the entire tree stand. 162 Results Currently, in Poland, old fruit alleys in rural areas are not commonly renewed and new ones are not implemented (Fig. 1-2, tab. 1.). In contrast, the fashion for fruit trees occurred in cities - newly planted fruit trees are more often found along city streets than on rural roads (Fortuna-Antoszkiewicz, Łukaszkiewicz 2013). An example is Warsaw - in many places, one can find new plantings made of ornamental varieties of fruit trees, mainly from the genus Malus sp., Prunus sp., Pyrus sp. (Fig. 3-4). Fig. 1: Old apple tree alley, Mory near Warsaw, Fig. 2: Old apple tree alley, local road Kopydłowo - Poland (photo: B. Fortuna-Antoszkiewicz, Kopydłówek - Wilczogóra, Poland (photo: J. 2015) Łukaszkiewicz, 2016) Fig. 3: One-row planting (Prunus serrulata Fig. 4: Fragment of a 2-row planting on the street ‘Kanzan’) - Warsaw, Ursynów district (photo: P. (Pyrus calleryana ‘Chanticleer’), Warsaw, Ursynów Wiśniewski, 2013) district (photo: P. Wiśniewski, 2013) Old and valuable, and currently disappearing varieties of fruit trees are collected in specialist pomological collections in arboretums (Fig. 5-6); the remains of old orchards or nurseries, where fruit plants were grown, were preserved in historic parks (eg Sękowski 1990, Dolatowski, Prokopiv 2011, Kucharska 2011, Chmielewska 2018, Żygała 2018). In the past, these kinds of cultivars were recommended for growing in orchards, but they were also used for planting along roads. 163 Fig. 5: The old fruit alley, the arboretum in Fig. 6: Collections of old, endangered varieties of Glinna, Poland (photo: B. Fortuna-Antoszkiewicz, apple trees, the arboretum in Bolestraszyce, 2012) Poland (photo: B. Fortuna-Antoszkiewicz, 2016) Tab. 1: Roadside shelters - fruit alleys in Poland (selected examples). By B. Fortuna-Antoszkiewicz, J. Łukaszkiewicz, P. Wiśniewski The Trunk’s The crown of trees Characteristics Tree spacing of circumfe A Height Width [m] Condition of spatial species trees in a rence at of trees layout row [m] 1.3 m [m] [cm] Mory by Warsaw, Mazovia - 2-row roadside alley / year of field data collection: 2016 few losses in apple ca. 10,0 122 / 131 max. 6,0 7,0-9,0 regular crowns planting trees / 132 / with deformations (Malus 156 / small and (fig. 1) sp.) medium deadwood Radonice by Błonie, Mazovia Voivodeship – 1-row roadside shelter / year of field data collection: 2016 losses in apple ca. 13,0 149 / 151 6,0-8,0 6,0-8,0 crown thinning / planting trees / 153 small and Malus sp medium deadwood Stara Iwiczna by Piaseczno, Warsaw, Mazovia Voivodeship – 1-row mid-field shelter/ year of field data collection: 2013 few losses in walnut 8,0-10,0 120 - 140 ca. 6,0 5,0-7,0 regular crowns / planting trees small and (Juglans medium regia) deadwood Kopydłowo - Kopydłówek – Wilczogóra, on the north, north-west by Konin,Greater Poland Voivodeship - 2-row roadside alley / year of field data collection: 2016 losses in apple ca 8,0 120 / 131 6,5-7,0- 7,0-8,0 crowns with planting trees / 125 8,0 deformations / (Malus small and (fig. 2) sp.) medium deadwood Nieborzyn-Budzisław Kościelny / NW. by Konin, Greater Poland Voivodeship - 2-row roadside alley / year of field data collection: 2016 incomplete cherry 8,0-10,0 150 / 156 6,5-8,0 6,0-7,0 regular crowns, layout - 1 row trees with deformations is partially (Prunus / small and preserved sp.) medium deadwood Numerous roadside shelterbelts composed of fruit trees are observed in Moravia. Generally, along with local roads in rural areas, the presence of such tree plantings is the prevailing rule (np. Hrušková 164 et all. 2012; Veličková, Velička 2013). These are predominantly regular, linear plantings of fruit trees, e.g. along roads leading to the towns and villages (fig. 7-8, tab. 2.). Along roads of higher traffic density are deployed dense belt coverings, located on both sides of the road (protection against pollution). Besides species of fruit trees are present, like: Prunus avium L., Prunus cerasus L., Prunus domestica L., Juglans regia L., one can spot others, e.g. trees: Tilia cordata Mill., Acer pseudoplatanus L., Acer tataricum L., Prunus avium L., Pinus sylvestris L., Pinus nigra J. F. Arnold, Populus nigra 'Italica'; and shrubs: Lonicera sp., Syringa sp., Spiraea xvanhouttei (Briot) Zabel, Crataegus monogyna Jacq., Amorpha fruticosa L., Tamarix sp., Hippophaë rhamnoides L., Elaeagnus angustifolia L., Rhus typhina L. Tab. 2: Roadside shelters and fruit alleys in Moravia (selected examples). By B. Fortuna- Antoszkiewicz, J. Łukaszkiewicz, P. Wiśniewski (measurement: 04.05.2018) The Trunk’s The crown of trees Characteristics Tree species spacing of circumfe A Height Width [m] Width [m] of spatial layout trees in a rence at of trees row [m] 1.3 m [m] [cm] The exit road from Krtiny (in the direction of Poland) / locality: Bukovina - Bukovinka / local road No. 37 365 - a two-sided alley on the roadside shaft (height 2.0 m) - length approx. 700 m (Fig. 9-10) an almost Prunus 8,0-10,0 93 / 121 / 6,0-7,0 crown base: full crown complete domestica L. 121 / 93 / 1,5-2,0 m / symmetry with southern row; 97 / 115 crown thinning / fine few losses in width: 6,0- and medium planting 7,0 m deadwood northern row - Prunus 8,0-9,0 151 / 95 / 6,0-7,0 1,5-2,0 m / full crown single plantings cerasus L. + 128 / 99 / crown symmetry / younger, Prunus 116 / 125 width: 8,0 small and complemented avium L. m medium by cherries deadwood Town of Luleč - single-row avenue, single-aged, without any complementary plantings, incomplete / length ca. 1 km 1-stronna płd. Juglans 10,0-11,0 150 / 130 ca. 8,0 2,5-3,0 m / full crown regia L. / 180 / crown symmetry / 137 / 162 width: 8,0- small and / 142 10,0 m medium deadwood Fig. 7: The beautiful, many kilometers in length, fruit Fig.