Climate

The Kharkiv Region is situated across two climatic zones - the grassland zone and the woodland zone.

The climate is temperate continental, the winter lasts for about 130 days. Frosts alternate with thaws, although in some years the winter happens to be hard with much snow and lasts longer than usual.

The summer by and large is hot and its duration is 140 days. The winds blow often. Westerly winds in summer and in autumn, and south-easterly and easterly winds in winter and in spring.

The autumn is a beautiful season in the Kharkiv region and as a rule it is warm and dry with a lot of sunny days.

The region lies within a zone of insufficient humidity. In some years the prolonged absence of rains combined with a high air temperature result in a very low humidity and hot winds contribute to draught conditions. Sometimes dust-storms may appear.

The annual level of rains falls between 475 and 568 mm and it decreases from the North-West towards the South-East. The rainiest month is July.

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Soils

The soils of various types are present in the Kharkiv region. The prevailing types are rich Ukrainian black earth (chernozem) and gray podzolic loess soils. Types of black earths that had formed on loess soils of various physical composition may range from arenaceous and coarse-grained clay soils to heavy loam soils.

The top-soil is generally 110 - 120 cm. From top down to the depth of 40 - 50 cm. there is a humus layer with humus percentage of up to 8%.

The largest masses of gray podzolic soils adjoin drained washes and ravines, usually these are right hand riverbanks. On the loess river benches saline and alkali soils can be found.

From the old times the land of the Kharkiv region were famous for fertility so that horticulture and agriculture thrived here in the past. They also grew grapes and mulberry. Nowadays the soils are widely used too - for horticulture and for growing high quality hard wheat, for beet-root and sunflower plantations, for vegetable growing.

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Rivers & Lakes

The Kharkiv region is not reach in water resources. There are about 200 rivers in the region but mostly they are small.

The main river - the Seversky Donets - stretches along 220 miles (370 km.) on the territory of the region. The river is fed by underground waters and atmospheric condensation. The rivers that flow into it are the Oskol (the biggest of its tributaries), the Udy, the Lopan, the Kharkiv river and the Mzha.

In the Western part of the region the biggest rivers are the Merla, the Kolomak, the Orel, the Berestovaya, the Samara, which belong to the Dnipro watercourse.

Considerable water resources are stored in lakes. The biggest lakes are the Liman, the Chaika, the Svetlichnoye, the Kamyshevatoye. Besides that, two large artificial bodies of water were created in the Seversky Donets watercourse - the Pechenezhskoye (Pechenizke) and the Krasnooskolskoye (Chervonooskolske) reservoirs.

The richest in water resources are the North-West, the North-East, and the central parts of the region. In general, this is where the biggest forests are situated. In the Southern parts forests are scattered in small patches along washes, ravines and lowlands.

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Forests

The green cover on the territory currently known as the Kharkiv region has been changing in the course of centuries. A few hundred years ago the whole Ukraine was covered with woods. The woods were the source of food, cloth and shelter for numerous nomadic tribes and the Slavs.

During the time of Holy Russia fortifications were erected over a vast territory which became known as Free Settlement (Sloboda) Ukraine. In the XVII century, Kharkivska, Tsareborisovskaya (Chervony Oskol) and other castles were built, the Ukrainian fortified line was put up and thus a powerful defense belt was formed. The main building material in all times was oak timber. Fortifications such as walls, towers, stockade were made of oak too. All utility and dwelling buildings in castles and localities were made of wood. Pokrovsky cathedral that was built in 1689, long remained the only stonework building in Kharkiv. 

Tillage took enormous territories from woods. Until XIX century a barbarian agricultural method was practised in Ukraine when portions of forests were burnt down and the cleared areas were sown with rye, oats and other crops. After two or three years the exhausted land would be dropped and new areas of forest got burnt down. A lot of forests were destroyed by fires. As the result of the deforestation (forest disappearing) the grassland zone advanced further North.There appeared drifting sand dunes and ravines.

The time has come when some people in the Kharkiv region came up to understand the importance of protective afforestation. Thanks to them the Kharkiv area is rightfully regarded to be the cradle of grassland afforestation. The first attempt on artificial forest developing in the Southern Russia was made by I. Y. Danilevsky - the well-known author and historian G. P. Danilevsky's grandfather.

In 1802, an ex-Cossack from Zaporizhzhe Antip Legkostup who served as a gamekeeper in Danilevsky's estate brought in several carts of pine cones over from the woods in Briansk region. Together with other peasants he planted cuttings of pussy-willow and red osier in the furrowed sandy rough ground and ravines near the Donets river and in between the furrows he sowed pine seeds. In ten years two and a half thousand acres of land were covered with beautiful pine forest. Neighbor' initial derision faded: their arable lands were no longer suffering from sand winds, the pine forest filled up with birds' singing and wildlife of various kinds, and the enthusiastic arboriculturist himself was healed from asthma by the curative effect of the pine forest.

In 1808-1809, I. N. Karazin established the acclimatization park of Osnova (which is known at present as the dendrology park of Krasnokutsk). In 1903, the owners of Sharovka estate were involved in afforestation in Bohodukhov region.

However, the efforts at reafforestation could not undo the damages inflicted on the barbarously destroyed forests. Invaluable parts of planted pine forests in forest steppe zone and forest area were destroyed during the booming development of capitalism, hundreds of thousands of acres of forests were cut down during the Civil war.

During World War II, Hitlerites sent high quality timber from the Kharkiv region over to Germany, burned down forests, in order to smoke out guerillas hiding there. The aggressors were responsible for 400 thousand acres of land where the forests were cut or burnt down. The scars of war - shell craters, trenches, traces of blindages and fire points, bits of rusty barbed wire in the tree trunks - are still visible today, one can see them just walking in the forest and collecting mushrooms.

It was only after the war that the people of the Kharkiv region could start reforestation activities on a large scale. It was a great campaign directed at restoration of the natural environment in the native land, a period of persistent efforts to increase productivity and quality of the forests, to plant forests in washes, ravines, sand areas, to create forest protection structures.

The forests in the Kharkiv region have become much younger as a whole, at present their average age is 50 years. The forest agencies keep planting forests - for those who will be living in the XXI century. The aggregate territory of forest nurseries in the Kharkiv region is 1500 acres. Kupyanskoye, Krasnogradskoye, Izyumskoye forest agencies annually cover 1200 - 2200 acres of land with newly planted forests, with a considerable germination rate.

At present, forests take up 785 thousand acres. In the forests and parks of the Kharkiv region, there are over 1000 species and classes of trees and shrubs. The dominant forest classes are English oak and common pine. Spruce is widespread too. Among the attendant tree species often found lime trees, maple trees, ash trees. On the relatively damp soils grow birch, alder, willow, asp and poplar. There are quite a number of wild fruit trees - apple trees and pear trees.

Such shrubs as filbert, spindle-tree (envonymus), guelder rose, hawthorn, elder, blackthorn freely grow in the undergrowth and in the outer wood. The variety of the forests in the Kharkiv region has been increasing owing to cultivating various exotic plants - eastern white pine, Amur corc, quince, red oak.

The power to develop forests is vested to eight forest agencies, two forest agencies for training and research, forest reclamation station, and two game preserves. The forests of the region are distributed among 62 forest agencies. The agencies receive a considerable amount of help in their work of restoring forests from the scientists of the afforestation and amelioration research institute.

Under the supervision of the selection department of the institute of Zmiyiv forest agency was established a selection and seed germination complex, which is supposed to supply all forest agencies with high quality seeds. Classes and types of oak and pine from almost every continent are gathered in Chemuzhovskoye and Yuzhnoye forest agencies. This is the parent matter for grand and hardy forests of the third millennium.

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Green Belt of the city

It is easy to imagine what it would be for a big industrial city like Kharkiv not to have a protective green shield around it - the adjacent forest area overlapping with the green zone of the city which extends for 30 miles (50 kilometers).

These forests and town plantations clean the air that we breathe, the water that we drink as they create a microclimate which is good for our health. The aggregate territory of the green belt comes up to 27,000 acres, the rate of the green territory per one inhabitant of Kharkiv is 13 sq. meters per person.

The oldest among the 27 parks and gardens of the city is the garden named after T. G. Shevchenko. In XVII-XVIII centuries, the territory of this garden formed a natural oak-wood grove which guarded the Northern approach to the Kharkiv fortification. In early XIX century part of this territory was given over to the Kharkiv university. It was rearranged, redesigned, new trees and shrubs were planted; and thereafter it was dubbed the University Garden. The garden became Kharkovites' favorite place of recreation. In the 1930's the territory of the garden was extended, and in 1935 a monument to the great Ukrainian poet T. G. Shevchenko was placed at the Sumskaya street entrance to the garden. At that time the park was named after T. G. Shevchenko. Century old oaks - coevals of the town - accentuate the greatness of the monument. Unique layout, well-thought-out use of greenery, including exotic species make the garden one of the most attractive places in the city.

In 1893-1895, in the Northern part of the city a new park was created by students which were the major workforce. It took up more than 320 acres, and was subsequently named after A. M. Gorky, the famous soviet writer. The compositional principle of the garden planning was based on creating plant groups. Contrasting groups of trees: light color birch trees next to emerald larches, pines near red oak plantations, silver maples outlined against the dark green background of English oaks.The alleys lined by chestnut trees or limes are very good too. There are a lot of blooming shrubs in the park. The park is fabulously beautiful in winter as well, with its evergreen spruce and pines. A pleasure cable road was put up there providing transportation from the park into one of the greenest districts of the town, Pavlovo Pole which allows one to admire the green panorama spreading out below. In 1940, a train of the "Malaya Yuzhnaya" children's railway operating between Gorky Park and Lesopark made its first journey.

Lesopark lies in the North and the North-West side of Kharkiv, it goes along Belgorod motorway, comes close to the high rise tenements of Pavlovo Pole and the banks of the Kharkiv river. This is a natural mixed type forest covering more than 5,000 acres where many trees are well over 100 years old. Spreading trunks of maples, limes, poplars are not uncommon among oak trees. It was here that they made alleys, group plantations, flowerbeds on the 28 of October 1977 when the Memorial complex of Glory was opened.

During intensive industrialization period in Kharkiv, a special course of action was being consistently implemented aimed at protecting the working people from the harmful effects of the industrial establishments. Thus, the tractor constructing plant not only gave us a labor neighborhood but also a gigantic park covering 200 acres along Moskovsky avenue which serves as a green barrier between the town streets and the plant zone. Founded in the 1930's by working youths, this park has now expanded so much that the group of originally planted trees is the only reminder of its artificial origin. In 1934, another park was founded near industrial buildings; the park was named after Artem and it covers 300 acres. It is a recreation place for lots of people from several working class neighborhoods. Its position near industrial establishments predetermined the choice of particular species of trees in this park which are mostly smoke and harmful gas resistant plants. The alleys are lined with Crimean limes - the most town-adapted trees. But there are a lot of various poplars in Artem park as well as guests from the South - quince, honey locust, lots of fruit trees with their pleasant spring blossom.

The youngest parks in Kharkiv were found in the 1970's: 50 years of the USSR park in the vicinity of Kharkivskich diviziy street and Slinko street (it is planned to be extended to 850 acres); Youths' park between Pushkinskaya and Artema streets in the centre of the city (45 acres), many statues of famous people have become an organic part of the park; "Youth" park in one of the most picturesque districts of Kharkiv - Zalyutino, this park was made by the soldiers of Kharkiv garrison and the inhabitants of Leninsky district (75 acres); "Victory" park on the territory of former KhEMZ plant garden and boulevards that have smothered Saltovka district in green.

In the absence of a wide and deep river in the city, to redress the water balance river parks designed by the city architects were made. Zhuravlevsky river park was created in the late 1950's with the city students taking an active part in its construction. Its territory is 467 acres. The river banks are lined with weeping willows, groups of birch trees are spectacularly scattered on the territory of the park, pine and larch plantations, cool lime alleys protect the resting people from summer heat. The centre of the park is somewhere near the artificial body of water covering several dozens of acres, which lies next to Saltovka district. In 1967, on the banks of the Udy river there October river park was created. Its territory is almost 225 acres. It has bathing places equipped with some services and utilities, a sport area, willow, birch tree, maple, pine, oak, poplar plantations. In the early 1960's, Osnovyansky river park was created on the bank of a lake which has an island in the middle of it and which is situated in Chervonozavodskoy district (the South-West of Kharkiv). This park joined up with the surrounding forests. At the same time in 1962-1966, in Alekseyevka there was created Lugopark along the Lopan watercourse. This park covers 300 acres.

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Animal Life

The animal kingdom in the forests of the Kharkiv region is diverse and interesting. In May and June the birds have their nesting period. During this time the forests are full of birds' singing: orioles, titmice, cuckoos, blackbirds, the woodpecker's roll, the magpie's chattering, the nightingale's warbling. In the silence of the winter forest you can hear quiet and tuneful singing of the waxwings.

About 800 pheasant were brought and acclimatizes in the Kharkiv region in order to increase its bird population. Quail and partridges can often be found in fields and groves. The places where the forest comes close to the water are inhabited by wild ducks, herons, gulls.

Moving along the motor roads, crossing the forests of the Kharkiv region a driver would often see road signs with the notice "watch for animals!" And you always slow down when you see a gray hare (there are over 35,000 of them in the region), a red fox, or a graceful roe trotting across the road.

In the thicket you come across the traces of a wild boar: a piece of rooted ground. Up to 1980, the population of the wild boars (that were brought in from the Far East) had increased to almost three thousand.

However unlikely it might seem, in the forests near Kharkiv you could even encounter an elk and a red deer. Deers were brought in from Belovezhskaya Pushcha and Voronezh national parks and perfectly acclimatized here. Martens, rabbits and squirrels live here as well. Even wolves have remained here in small quantities. In the steppe zone - in Burluck and Yekaterininsky nature reserves - live relict animals - steppe marmots (over 35,000).

And all this wildlife grow and reproduce alongside with the people, in close vicinity to factories and through-passages. Owing to the man's attention, owing to his conservation activities there are no less animals in the forests planted by him than in the farthest corners of the taiga woods!

Specialized agencies are involved in breeding, observation, shooting of the wild animals: these agencies are Izyumsky and Gutyansky game preserves, Novovodolazhskoye forest preserve, "Skripai" training preserve.

Over 27 thousand hectares of forest land is allotted to volunteer hunters' and anglers' societies of the Kharkiv region, including about 16 thousand hectares of preserve land run by the region or district authorities.

However it is more likely to see a hunter without his shotgun, he would rather have animal feed and an ax. They are responsible for maintaining order in the forest: they clean up brushwood, tend newly planted shoots, guard them, help feeding animals and birds in bad weather conditions, fix racks and salt feeders, stockpile hay and make sweeping bunches. The game for a true hunter is not only to hunt, his primary goal is to help nature preserve its reaches.

Hunting is only allowed during a set period, and the planned shooting of wild animals is a source of considerable income for the state.

Forests, gardens, river basin fields, virginal parts of grassland are an excellent basis for apiculture. The work staff of Izyumsky, Balakleysky and other forest agencies turn tons of curative honey over to the state.

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Resorts in the Kharkiv Region

There doesn't seem to be an alternative to the southern sun and the Black Sea shore for someone who wants to have rest and recreation and to improve his or her health?

We say there is: balmy pine forests and bowery oak-woods, hay harvest fields abounding with flowers, picturesque riverbanks and snug sunny bathing places near slow rivers and crystal clear forest lakes of the Kharkiv region. Not without reason some landscapes yet in the last century were titled as "Kharkiv Switzerland".

Numerous tourist centres and recreation facilities, children's campuses, sanatoriums are Kharkivites' favorite recreation places situated across the green zone of Kharkiv, Bohodukhov, Krasnokutsk, Zmiyiv, Vovchansk, Izyum.

Most beautiful places in the Kharkiv region are the banks of the Pechenezhskoye and the Krasnooskolskoye reservoirs. Complete camps appear in these places in summer. There are a lot of yacht clubs along the banks of the reservoirs. The scenes where the forests come close to the edge of the water near the lakes in Kharkiv, Chuhuyiv, Zmiyiv and other districts are amazingly beautiful. Korobovy Khutora village which is situated in Korobovskoye forestry in Zmiyiv district is from of old famed for its beauty. In the vicinity of the village, along the banks of the Seversky Donents there are summer houses, sport facilities and tourist centres. Surrounded by orchards and dense forests the buildings of the "Korobov Khutor" rest house rise high above the banks of the Donets river. People from various towns and villages of Ukraine come to the "Severny Donets" rest house situated in the dense forest near Eskhar village in the district of Chuhuyiv. In the pine forests of Vovchansk district there is a beautiful rest house called "Verkhne Pisarevsky". There are plenty of sanatoria in the vicinity of the city, "Kharkiv" rest house, for example, or "Yuzhny" on the banks of a large lake in the middle of a pine forest.

The area traditionally reserved for summer houses is the town of Pesochin. People from different parts of Ukraine got used to come to the "Roshcha" rest home and "Rai-Yelenovka" sanatorium. In the outskirts of Lubotin on the bank of a forest lake there is a rest house called "Medic", occupying a real estate that used to be owned by a noble. Near Vysoky village there is a rest house of the same name. The buildings of the tourist centre near Vasishchevo are smothered in greenery and flowers. A number of preventative care sanatoria attached to plants or factories are situated in Pyatikhatky.

Curative mineral spring water, clean forest-steppe air, superb natural conditions, kind and considerate attitude of the staff are at the disposal of those who come to the "Berezovsiye Mineralniye Vody" sanatorium near Peresechnoye village in the district of Dergachy. There are sanatoria in the districts of Bohodukhov and Krasnokutsk, too. The name Gaidary suggests a nice summer rest.

In the North West part of the region, twelve miles away from the town of Bohodukhov there is situated the Sharovsky park, a landscape-gardening monument of the XIX century. The park sprawls across the slopes of a wash adjoining the Merchick watercourse and covers the area of about 100 acres. A castle-palace, situated on a high hill, is the centre of the park. The adjoining part of the park is laid out in a regular style - plain alleys, geometrically shaped flowerbeds, esplanades, straight paths. Further on begin landscape designs shading off into natural forest. A huge wash divides this part of the park into south and north slopes. The south slope is dominated by the coniferous species, and on the north slope there are fragments of the remaining virginal oak-wood. The powerful gigantic oaks are from 150 to 300 years old. Side by side with the aboriginal trees in the park, there settled exotic plants: Virginia juniper, mahonia, Amur corc. The Sharovsky sanatorium operating since 1925 in a former squire estate is one of the best sanatoria in Ukraine.

Many people got fascinated by the picturesque nature of the Kharkiv region, and many were inspired. The forests near Babai were the favorite place for meditation of G. S. Skovoroda a famous educationalist, philosopher, and poet. With a fine touch of lyricism are painted the native landscapes by the well-known artist, Izyum-born S. I. Vasilkovsky in his works "Korobov Hamlet", "Stone Wash", "On The Donets". The beautiful nature of the Kharkiv region is also presented in the works of the well-known Russian artist I. I. Sokolov who was T. G. Shevchenko's contemporary, his friend and follower. The paintings of P. A. Levchenko ("In Kharkiv Region"), M. A. Berkos ("Poppies", "Apple Tree In Blossom") are full of poetical feelings. Century old oak trees of the forest near Kochetok for ever more won the young I. E. Repin's heart. You may share his admiration if you decide to spend your summer holiday in the Kharkiv region.

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