File:Pear tree at Lady Bird Johnson Park, George Washington Memorial Parkway (6fc31c6d-793d-4f75-b749-d9af8e9d1941).jpg

A tall pear tree with leafy, upright branches stands in a grassy area beside a road with cars. A river is visible in the background.

Wilbur Simonson created the first formal planting plan for Columbia Island as the project manager for the development of the Mount Vernon Memorial Highway (MVMH), built 1929-1932. Simonson concentrated plantings along the roadway to maximize visual impact for the view experienced by motorists. He selected ornamental tree species including crabapple (Malus sp.), pear (Pyrus sp.), goldenrain trees (Koelreuteria paniculata), cherry (Prunus sp.), and sophoras (Styphnolobium japonicum). The pear trees were from an experimental farm based in Beltsville, Maryland. Simonson’s plantings were installed during the final phase of the MVMH’s construction. The major tree planting of Columbia Island began in 1968 as part of an effort to beautify this approach to Washington, D.C. The Beautification Program, which at its core focused on landscape enhancement, was a project launched by the First Lady Lady Bird Johnson. Regionally acclaimed landscape architect Milton “Meade” Palmer was hired in 1973 to design the memorial grove. Palmer chose to preserve most of the extant 1932 plantings along the parkway, which included four sophoras and two pears southeast of the memorial plaza. However, he likely had to remove some of the Simonson-era plantings to accommodate the planting of the memorial grove.

*Subject: Cultural Landscapes

• Keywords: cultural landscape; George Washington Memorial Parkway; Beautification; pear tree; landscape architecture; Wilbur Simonson