Dendrological and Horticultural Value of Lisi ine Arboretum

An arboretum is a collection of living woody plants. Apart from scientific research and education, arboreta serve public welfare, contribute to the popularization, planting and maintenance of trees and shrubs, but also have a horticultural value, i.e. they ennoble the area on which they are set. An important endeavor of Croatian Forests Co. Ltd. Zagreb is to renew and arrange theArboretum Lisi ine, located on the area of the Forestry Office Vo in, Forest Management Unit Na ice. The broader area of the Arboretum amounts to 45 ha, of which about 18 ha is beech forest; outside the fenced area there are about 2 ha of land around the building, whereas the remaining, a little less than 25 ha, make up for the Arboretum area in the narrower sense of the word, on which trees and shrubs, as well as many cultivars from various parts of the world are planted. According to Vidakovi (1986), until 1985 about 1100 different taxa of trees and shrubs (species, subspecies, varieties, hybrids and cultivars) were planted. During the Homeland War the Arboretum area was occupied and devastated, and the documentation about the grown plants disappeared. The narrower Arboretum area is divided in 3 parts: 1. horticultural part, 2. area with European and Asian plants, 3. area with American plants. In the horticultural part of theArboretum,which is partially arranged, 416 different taxa have been determined, from 113 genera (Id ojti et al. 2010). To obtain good results in arranging an area, it is necessary to apply a series of principles: unity and harmony, simplicity, balance, proportion, gradual and natural change, repetition, harmony of colors and forms, etc. In addition, there are many criteria according to which plants for ornamenting an area are selected: size; form; life-span of leaves; leaf shape, size and color; flower shape, size, color and scent; fruit shape, size, color, scent and structure; bark color and texture; twig color and shape; foliation, flowering and fruit-bearing period; edibility and aromaticity of certain plant parts; negative effects; growth speed; maintenance demands; resistance to diseases and pests; ecological demands, etc. Unlike the Arboreta Trsteno and Opeka, theArboretum Lisi ine has no cultural-historical value, because it was planted on a former orchard and forest area in the 2nd half of the 20th century. In addition, speaking of its horticultural value,we need to keep in mind that it was primarily planted as a collection of trees and shrubs. The criteria for selecting plants are different when setting an arboretum than when an area is horticult