Maintenance and conservation of historical pomegranate tree in the garden of Thessaloniki Ataturk's House

Abstract

Historical pomegranate tree in the garden of Atatiirk's House in Thessaloniki storied that planted by the father of Ataturk, Ali Rlza Efendi, has been one of the most attractive points at the museum. However, in addition to the problems of natural ageing period, constructional works in the garden during restoration of the museum and unappropriate prunings caused serious health problems on the tree. For this reason, in order to cease or delay tree collapsing period and prolong survival of the tree, regular maintenance treatments have to be conducted. In this study, technical information has been given regarding the precautions of specific tree maintenance and conservation works, which are normally applied to long lived monumental trees in the literature, on the pomegranate tree. However, these precautions have not been previously applied on such a tree, particularly on the pomegranate tree.