Park update: From 7am – 3:30pm on Monday, March 18 and Tuesday, March 19, the High Line will be partially closed between 23rd and 30th Streets due to construction. Visitors can enter and exit at the 23rd Street stair/elevator and the 30th/10th Street stair. The entrances from Hudson Yards, the Connector, and the Spur remain open.

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Photo by Rowa Lee

High Line Gardeners & Volunteers Complete 2016 Cutback Season

By Emma Leavens | April 4, 2016

Another Spring Cutback on the High Line has been completed—and in record time. Our team of 15 gardeners completed this tremendous undertaking earlier than ever with the help of 175 volunteers who contributed more than 690 combined volunteer hours. With the unseasonable warmth of this spring, the gardeners and volunteers worked around bulbs in bloom and uncovered new growth while removing the remaining material from last season. This made way for a particularly graceful, colorful transition into the spring season on the High Line.

This year, the gardeners took on the ambitious additional challenge of storing, chipping, and composting all of the plant debris on site to recycle that organic material back into our High Line ecosystem. Recycling over 4,000 cubic feet of Cutback plant debris into our plant beds as mulch, compost, and compost tea enables last year’s growth to foster the health of our gardens this year. This process will mimic the natural decomposition of plant life—and subsequent nutrient uptake by new plants—that would take place in a wild landscape.

Along with the nutrients that will soon be returned to the plant beds, because of Cutback our plants now have more access to sunlight, which will soon result in more vibrant colors and textured foliage in the park. Congratulations to our incredible team of gardeners, and thanks to all our volunteers—including groups from Google, The High Line Hotel, REI, Related and TD Bank—for their hard work and dedication over the past month. We also invite you to read a Q&A with High Line volunteer Bridget Gramling to learn more about the volunteer experience.

Below, check out several of the photo highlights from cutback, followed by a gallery of our hardworking gardeners:

Meet the Gardeners:

Senior Gardener John GundersonPhoto by Rowa Lee

Gardener Erin EckPhoto by Rowa Lee

Senior Gardener Kaspar WittlingerPhoto by Rowa Lee

Gardener Maryanne StubbsPhoto by Rowa Lee

Gardener Marek PundzakPhoto by Rowa Lee

Senior Gardener Orrin SheehanPhoto by Rowa Lee

Gardener Nathan BartholomewPhoto by Rowa Lee

Gardener Rachel HokansonPhoto by Rowa Lee

Gardener Taryn CunhaPhoto by Rowa Lee

Gardener Tim KerinsPhoto by Rowa Lee

Gardener Guilherme GoncalvesPhoto by Rowa Lee

Seasonal Gardener Sue TropioPhoto by Rowa Lee

Seasonal Gardener Yuki KanekoPhoto by Rowa Lee

Seasonal Gardener Matt VermeulenPhoto by Rowa Lee

Horticulture Intern Ayinde ListhropPhoto by Julienne Prevete

SUPPORT
REI is a Supporting Sponsor of the High Line Volunteer Program.

Become a High Line Member

Friends of the High Line raises 98% of the High Line’s annual budget.
Owned by the City of New York, the High Line is a public park maintained, operated, and programmed by Friends of the High Line, in partnership with the New York City Department of Parks & Recreation.

 

 

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