High Line Blog

High Line Gardener John Gunderson advises Spring Cutback volunteers on the proper technique for cutting back the grasses during a volunteer orientation session on February 15.

In just a few days, we will begin what has become one of our favorite traditions since the High Line opened as a public park. Spring Cutback – it’s a six-week operation that involves hundreds of hours of hard work to trim back the park’s 100,000 plants to make way for the new growing season.

Spring Cutback is the biggest horticultural undertaking of the year – one that took us more than 1,200 hours to complete last year. With the recent opening of the new section of the High Line, this will be the first spring where we have one mile of parkland to prepare for spring. We can’t do it alone, so we have recruited more than 300 members, supporters, neighbors, and friends from our community to help us complete this monumental task.

The volunteers recently completed their orientation session, where they were introduced to the unique challenges of maintaining a park in the sky. Follow us after the jump for a recap.

Corsican hellebore is a hearty evergreen that produces pale green flowers in late winter.

The High Line’s planting design is inspired by the self-seeded landscape that took root on the elevated rail tracks after the trains stopped running. The High Line includes more than 300 species of perennials, grasses, shrubs, and trees — chosen for their hardiness, adaptability, diversity, and seasonal variation in color and texture. Some of the species that originally grew on the High Line’s rail bed are reflected in the park landscape today.

This week we share with you one of our Gardeners’ current favorites.

Family Feather Flurry brought together nearly 40 children and their caregivers for a winter scavenger hunt on the High Line, followed by crafts and storytelling at Posman Books.

On Sunday, February 5, children and caregivers joined us for the Family Feather Flurry, a High Line Kids scavenger hunt that explored the High Line’s winter landscape from a bird’s perspective. Following clues about the High Line’s unique plants and flowers, families made their way toward West 16th Street. From there everyone headed to the program’s next stop, Posman Books in Chelsea Market, to decorate their bird puppets and listen to stories.

Enjoy photos from the event and download the High Line scavenger hunt for your kids after the jump.

Happy Valentine’s Day from Friends of the High Line!

In honor of the romantic holiday, here’s a celluloid strip of lipstick kisses from Jennifer West’s silent film currently looping on HIGH LINE CHANNEL.