NYC Intern Trip

HOWDY FRIENDS,
Today marks a whole month I've been here at Moore Farms and that seems unbelievable to me. It has been such a wonderful time of learning experiences, hard work, and friendships. I only hope the next two months don't fly by like this one has, but either way I will make the most of everyday be it fast or slow!
Each summer Moore Farms Botanical Garden take their interns and a few staff on a trip. For the interns, it is a way to see and explore gardens in other areas of the United States as well as make connections with professionals in our field for future opportunities. For their staff members, attending the trip serves as staff development and way for them to also see and experience varies gardens of different areas.
This summer the intern trip was to New York City, New York! We left early Wednesday, June 10th and came back late Saturday, June 14th. However before I get more into the exciting details of our trip I want to share what Rachel, the other horticulture intern, and I did in the garden before we left Wednesday.

Early this past spring, there was a pretty large ice storm that passed through South Carolina, damaging the garden a great deal. Over a hundred trees were lost. The rest of spring was spent recovering and removing all the fallen and damaged trees from the garden. Replacing these trees has been the horticulturists main task for the past month. The very last trees of the large tree order they brought in were left for Rachel and I to put in. Let me tell you, they weren't little baby saplings. These were mature trees, Hollies to be specific. The Hollies came in what they refer to as B&B's, bald and burlapped. It is way of transplanting large trees where the rootball is wrapped in burlap, which holds in moisture and keeps the rootball from oxygen exposure during transplant. Once an appropriate sized hole is dug, it can be placed right in. With the removal of a small amount of burlap around the crown of the tree and one third of the way down the root ball and filling in the hole of fresh soil, you should be all set.
That was exactly what Rachel and I did. It took a whole day plus the help of a couple crew workers and a tractor, but we did it. We created a nice large screen of eight Holly trees at the back of the garden's nursery area. It was a task neither of us had ever seen or done before but a great one to experience! Below is a picture.

Another project we took on this past week, before leaving for our trip, was part of a long term project I shared before, the Bay Laurel hedges. I mentioned the scale problem and the gardens experimental route in finding the best insecticide to use in solving that problem. So Tuesday, Rachel and I set about in the first steps of it. We were given seven different insecticides and one horticulture oil to spray individually on the eight sections of the hedge. This was another all day task as we wanted to do a very thorough job in spraying and cleaning the water tank in between each type in order to obtain more accurate results. In two weeks the process will be repeated and a few weeks following the second treatment new samples will be taken from each hedge section to determine which insecticide worked best in comparison to the first samples taken before the insecticide application.

Now to NYC!
WEDNESDAY

• The High Line

The High Line was wonderful! It is a 1.45 miles stretch of public park located in Manhattan on an old rail line that is elevated above street level, admits the buildings. It is the perfect urban style garden for New York City, as everyone is constantly walking from one place to another surrounded by nothing but building after building. This creates a strip of garden to enjoy while going about your business. I absolutely loved it! I am very passionate about the importance of nature in people's lives and seeing this functional green space in such a condensed city brought me much joy.

THURSDAY

• Queens Botanical Garden
• Brooklyn Botanical Garden

Queens Botanical Garden was great, I valued its passion and sustainability most. It was one of the smaller, less funded and profitable gardens we visited. However it was enormously geared towards public involvement, learning, community. With incomparable environmental practices, children's programs, and community services, this garden can not be overlooked. 

Brooklyn Botanical Garden was beautiful and  much larger in size and development. With numerous large sectioned gardens, such as the herb, rose, rock, children's, and native gardens, you could easily spend a full day plus some exploring. My favorite were their three conservatories (tropical, desert and warm template) and their famous Bonsai collection! 

 

FRIDAY

• Wave Hill
• New York Botanical Garden

Wave hill was BEAUTIFUL! It was probably my favorite of the gardens because of it's romantic and intimate feel. It is a smaller public garden located in the Bronx right on the Hudson River with a view of the Palisades beyond the river. It is definitely in the top five most beautiful places I have ever seen. The garden has many different areas but they all flow together nicely, rich in design. Art also plays a major role in this garden, as Wave Hill is also referred to as a culture center. They have an art gallery and host a multitude of fine art events throughout the year. I love this garden's connection of nature and the arts. 

The New York Botanical Garden, also located in the Bronx, is by far the largest and most impressive of the New York City gardens. It is the most well known and about two hundred and fifty acres in size, making it the largest. We spent four hours there and probably only saw half of the garden. It contains historic buildings, huge production centers, a conservatory, forests, and even offers a continuing education and graduate studies program. Yet that is only a handful of what the garden possesses. 

  

                      

                    

SATURDAY

• Central Park

Central Park is a major highlight of New York City. We spent the whole morning walking all throughout it. It was full of people and life! I felt the same joy I felt about the High Line for the Central Park. Incorporating nature and green space into such an urban area is extremely necessary and the amount of people enjoying that area on a day to day basis is proof of that. 

So that was our trip, super exciting and busy! We also checked out a lot of the fun touristy things in the evenings. I hope you liked the photos and I hope one day you all can make it out to the wonderful gardens of New York City! You won't regret it!

STAY TUNED

It is always a mystery what we will be doing in the garden every week but one exciting thing I can give y'all a sneak peak on is the Savannah River Site! Rachel and I will be going to the Savannah River Site with our Garden Director, Ethan to collect plants and explore the historic site. It is a very unique opportunity and we are thrilled to partake, stay tuned to hear all about it!