Jessica Kaplan, Director of Horticulture | Riverside Park Conservancy
What does work look like for our staff during the winter months?
If you haven’t been out in the park on these blustery winter days, you may be surprised to know there is still much going on! This is the perfect time for the Conservancy team to get some pruning done while the leaves are gone, and structure is much easier to see on bare trees and shrubs.
The primary focus of winter pruning is to remove any dead and damaged branches that may have been missed during the summer. After that, we can move onto any structural issues such as branches rubbing together, causing damage and entry points for pests and disease. Any shrubs that have outgrown garden beds or are in need of rejuvenation are also on our to-do list. We accomplish this in various ways, sometimes reducing height or cutting some species to the ground to put their energy into growing healthy new stems.
Conservancy staff remove damaged branches, creating space for new growth on the Park’s trees.
An important component of winter pruning is tools. Gardeners use tools as an extension of themselves, helping us to help our plants. Ensuring tools are in good working order is a task all year long, but in the winter, we have time to carefully clean and sharpen any dull tools and give them much needed maintenance. This is also a great time to take inventory of what we have and what we need to gear up for another spring and summer season ahead.
Year-round learning
Winter is also an optimal time to learn! Our field staff attend conferences and other educational talks to keep their skills sharp and bring new perspectives for the coming season. It is important for gardeners to be lifelong learners and experience new methods and teachings. We are lucky to have fantastic field staff who do just that and bring new ideas and strategies back to Riverside Park.
Conservancy staff table at Plant-o-Rama, an annual symposium for horticulture professionals.
This January the team attended Plant-O-Rama, presented by Metro Hort at the Brooklyn Botanic Garden. It was an incredibly exciting year as Oliver Lopez, one of our fantastic gardeners, accepted a $1,000 award for continuing education. I was also featured on a panel for managing naturalistic landscapes. In this presentation, I highlighted some of the ways the team cares for meadows in the park including controlling Mugwort by pulling and removing in the spring and cutting repeatedly in the summer and fall. I also gave a preview to an exciting knotweed solarizing project in North Park along the bike path. This creative approach uses wire mesh to prevent the knotweed from growing too large and clear plastic to trap heat and warm the soil, hopefully, reducing the amount of knotweed. This method will be utilized again this summer, and I’m looking forward to seeing the results and sharing them with our horticultural community!
About Riverside Park Conservancy
From 59th Street to 181st Street, from riverfront to city-side, Riverside Park Conservancy cares for and enhances six miles of parkland for present and future generations. Working together with NYC Parks, we make improvements as diverse as the park itself and the city it serves.
