Invading Fallingwater: A Story of Survival
By Richard Liberto

English ivy scrambles up this oak by attaching "suckers" and ultimately smothering the canopy.

The landscape of western Pennsylvania has been shaped largely by water and by rock.

For the last 300 million years, water flowing over these layers of rock (geologically- the Allegheny Plateau) has carved our valleys, shaped our mountains and given rise to our rich forests-a process that is still happening today. It is a landscape diverse in natural resources of timber, stone and coal, and one that is abundant with wildlife. It is an area that many call home. It is also a landscape that inspired America's greatest architect, Frank Lloyd Wright (1870-1959), to design a house in harmony with water and rock-Fallingwater-in 1935 for department store magnate, Edgar Kaufmann, Sr.

Today the lush forest, dominated largely by red and white oaks, tulip poplars, striped-bark maples, rhododendron, mountain laurel and witch-hazel, is becoming a discordant landscape surrounded by non-native (exotic) plant species such as English ivy, Japanese honeysuckle, multi-flora rose, pachysandra and myrtle (periwinkle). These exotics are strangling trees, displacing the native vegetation and threatening the eco-system of the surrounding landscape, including Bear Run Nature Reserve just 500 yards north of Fallingwater.

Tulip Tree leaf (Liriodendron tulipifera)	Striped-bark Maple leaf (Acer pennsylvanicum)

It seems a bit odd that these "garden" plants can be so destructive given the fact the landscape has sustained the worst of assaults in earlier years, the least of which was the American Chestnut blight of the 1920s. The split rail fence along the highway and some unusual cocktail tables in both of the houses are tangible evidence of the Chestnuts. Most of the land was timbered, largely for railway ties and mine posts. The pockets of coal that were easily reached were strip-mined, causing sulfuric acid to spew into nearby streams.

When Edgar and Liliane Kaufmann purchased the property in 1933, they quickly recognized the importance of protecting the watershed (an area adjacent to a stream), their drinking water and also their favorite picnicking area and swimming hole. The Kaufmann's initially purchased 1600 acres of land and were on their way to becoming early conservationists.

Native Rhododendron Maximum

To assist with "healing" the land, they began to plant seedlings-90,000 of them, to be exact. According to weekly report documents that were prepared for Edgar Kaufman by his secretary, Ethel Clinton Appel, there were three separate plantings. The first 20,000 seedlings, planted in April of 1957, consisted mostly of Norway spruces that are visible today along the main road and entrance to Fallingwater. The second planting of 20,000 occurred in November 1957 and consisted largely white pines, which can be seen on Bear Run Reserve. The third planting included a mix of 50,000 seedlings of white and red pines and Norway spruces planted throughout the fields.

Unlike some of the other homes Frank Lloyd Wright designed, Fallingwater had no specific landscape plan other than to "keep it natural." When he first visited the site, Mr. Wright was moved by the natural plantings of rhododendron and simply stated to "add more", to which the Kaufmann's complied. Wright took painstaking measures to preserve the existing trees where the house was to be built. He diverted trellis beams and canopies around them, which is evidenced today (the trees have since died).

English ivy scrambles up this oak by attaching "suckers" and ultimately smothering the canopy.

In addition to being early conservationists, the Kaufmanns were avid gardeners.

With the help of their full-time gardener Mr. Green, they planted many non-native species including Japanese Barberry, Burning Bush and Japanese Wisteria.

The reason these exotics have become aggressive is they have no "natural checks" to keep them in balance in their adopted western PA habitat.

"Over the years they have taken over by the increasing spread of their vigorous root systems and by bird and wind dispersal," said Richard Liberto, Horticulturist and Fallingwater Landscape Volunteer. In one instance, English ivy has crept up the trunks of trees by Bear Run Stream and has strangled the canopies. The hillside by the guesthouse has been overrun (through seeds and runners) by white wisteria, thought to be a gift from Wright that, ironically, is annihilating the vegetation around it.

Japanese pachysandra and common myrtle "escape" from garden cultivation displacing the native habitats and threatening the nearby stream bank.

"Invasive exotic plant species are thought to be the biggest threat to biological diversity after habitat destruction," said Lynda Waggoner, Fallingwater's director. "We are now implementing a master plan for the area that surrounds Fallingwater." One major goal of the plan is the removal of the various invasive species-a process that began in April with the assistance of dedicated volunteers under the direction of Cara Armstrong, Curator of Buildings and Collections.

"We had been invaded and hadn't even realized it," said Armstrong. "We're afraid it's (the invasion) becoming an incubator for the rest of the Reserve, which has grown to more than 5000 acres through the protection of the Western PA Conservancy. We don't want plants being washed downstream, either that can establish themselves elsewhere."

The project will be ongoing and once the invasive species have been removed from specific areas, native plants such as American ginger, bloodroot, carex spp., a variety of ferns and understory shrubs will be planted and heavily mulched.

"What better place than Fallingwater, with its venerable marriage of site and building to demonstrate both a new ecological aesthetic and deeper ecological understanding," said Waggoner. The ivy and pachysandra have already been removed from the woods near the gardener's cottage and stream by a Pittsburgh Boy Scout troop. Other volunteers have begun removing invasive vegetation from the guesthouse hillside and the overgrown rhododendrons, as to not block the view from the guesthouse to the main house and to the stream below. Once this site has been cleared, an eco-lawn of "no-mow" grasses and low-growing native species will be planted.

The work is in sync with Wright's original vision to preserve as much as the natural heritage around Fallingwater and to maintain the delicate harmony between man, Nature and building. If Mr. Wright were alive today, I'm sure he would approve.

If you would like to join the volunteer team, please contact Cara Armstrong at carmstrong@paconserve.org or call 724.329.1441 x 1100 for more details or to learn about additional landscape volunteer opportunities.