It certainly is the case that the ages of trees and campuses may be better gauged in multiples of generations, rather than piddling years or decades. The trees of the Spring Hill College campus manifest these thoughts. They lend a character and dignity to the site that embellish the institution and etch the image of the place on our minds. Campus landscapes are archetypically compositions of lawns and shade trees. Well-formed campus open spaces are created as much by the living landscape as by inert brick and mortar.
Trees can shape a quadrangle or provide a containing canopy or emphasize an approach.
It bespeaks history and anchors the viewer in the deep South. The strength of the Avenue of the Oaks as a composition is well founded in a clear and simple idea, a double row of trees. Its success as an environment and emblem of the College, though, is grounded in the selection of a long-lived and durable species. The lesson extrapolated for the future is to plant for generations hence, to choose plant materials and trees that, while they may be slow to mature, will endure. These are campus trees.