Distribution and structural character of KUNE(high hedge of farmhouses) in the Kanto district

Research Project

Project/Area Number	02660025
Research Category	Grant-in-Aid for General Scientific Research (C)
Allocation Type	Single-year Grants
Research Field	園芸・造園学
Research Institution	Chiba University
Principal Investigator	AKASAKA Makoto Chiba university Faculty of Horticulture Associate professor, 園芸学部, 助教授 (30143267)
Project Period (FY)	1990 – 1991
Project Status	Completed (Fiscal Year 1991)
Budget Amount *help	¥1,900,000 (Direct Cost: ¥1,900,000) Fiscal Year 1991: ¥500,000 (Direct Cost: ¥500,000) Fiscal Year 1990: ¥1,400,000 (Direct Cost: ¥1,400,000)
Keywords	KUNE / high hedge / settlement / bottomland of Yedogawa / NW-part of Chiba pref / treekind of KUNE / 微高地 / クネ・高垣 / 防風防雨林 / しぶきよけ / 伊那 / 季節風
Research Abstract	In the first term of research I looked into some examples of KUNE(high hedge of farmhouses) in several districts: Hokkaido, Yamagata, Nagano, Shimane and collected the literature and documents for getting the general information and expert knowledge. In the second term I investigated KUNE in the Kanto district, especially north-western part of Chiba-prefecture. I could see, that many KUNE still survived there. The research area was almost field or ricefield on the bottomland of the Yedogawa-river. The extent of a area was 2 km north-south and 1 km east-west. There were about 60 KUNE(it included only traces or bases of KUNE). Typical treekinds of KUNE were llex integral, Camellia japonica, Padocarpus macrophylla etc. These KUNE(height 4.5-6.0 m) surrounded rectangular sites of farmhouses. Treekind of KUNE facing south was almost llex integral and north Camellia japonica. The longest Camellia-KUNE was nearly 40m. The oldest farmer settled down there 500 years ago, but trees were partly renovated. These trees of KUNE were cared for trimming once per year by gardeners or farmers themselves.