High Line Blog

Photo credit goes here.

Soil for the planting beds is set to be delivered this month on Section One. In anticipation of soil, the beds are now being lined with layers of the "Living Roof" system. 

The first layer to be installed: The drainage panel, a black plastic cell system, provides a critical component for water retention, drainage, and aeration.  The panel looks and feels like an expansive plastic egg carton, with small cups that catch and store water as it exits the soil profile.  The spaces between these cups help channel excess water toward planting bed drains, while tiny perforations in the cups allow for aeration to the soil from below.

Photo credit goes here.

The first of a weekly blog series by our horticulturist Melissa Fisher:

Eupatorium rugosum at Greenbelt Native Plant Center

Recently, we rode the ferry across to Staten Island and traveled by taxi to one of the Parks Department's best-kept secrets, the Greenbelt Native Plant Center.

Here, hundreds of native plants, including this White Snakeroot, Eupatorium rugosum, are being grown for Section 1 of the High Line (Gansevoort - 20th Streets). Greenbelt is also storing thousands of seeds collected on the High Line in 2006 by volunteers. Some of this seed, including that of Little Bluestem, Schizachyrium scoparium, will be grown for planting in Section 2 (20th - 30th Streets.)