Thanks for your question, Jessica.

Heritage Landscapes and Shelburne Farms are considering all aspects of tree plantings to address best practices and climate change vectors. These include:

1. Viewing historic evidence as a framework, not a constraint to applying best practices.
2. Seeking to balance overall property-wide diversity of species. (There is historic evidence for widespread use of American elm at Shelburne Farms but also oak, maple, spruce, pine and ash.)
3. Using native trees from our region and testing native trees form further south for adaptation.
4. Favoring tall maturing long-lived native species that have ecological benefits.
5. Choosing resilient species that have limited pest and disease vectors.
6. Using single species for short distances of formal allee plantings in a single visual feature, while using a species mix in other allee plantings
7. Using diverse native species for the new informal roadside trees.

As one example, the missing allee from the Farm Barn to the pond, which was replanted this spring, used two oak trees that are well adapted to the soils in that location- burr oak/Quercus macrocarpa and swamp white oak/Quercus bicolor. These should form a mixed allee with compatible tree character as the trees mature.

Hope this helps.