IT’S ONE of the best-known naturalistic gardens anywhere, and yet it’s perched in the most unnatural spot imaginable, 30 feet high above New York City traffic on an abandoned elevated railway line. The High Line on Manhattan’s West Side is celebrating the 15th anniversary of the opening of its first section, years that have been filled with expert lessons on gardening in this looser, nature-inspired style.
Today’s guest is Richard Hayden, the High Line’s senior director of horticulture. His team of 10 horticulturists manages the naturalistic gardens, originally designed by Piet Oudolf of the Netherlands, spanning portions of the 1.5-mile beloved park that welcomes about 7 million visitors a year.
Read along as you listen to the July 8, 2024 edition of my public-radio show and podcast using the player below. You can subscribe to all future editions on Apple Podcasts (iTunes) or Spotify (and browse my archive of podcasts here).
lessons in naturalistic gardening, with richard hayden
Margaret Roach: So happy anniversary, birthday—whatever we want to call it, to you and the team.
Richard Hayden: Thank you.
Margaret: It was fun meeting some of you, at least virtually, to do a recent “New York Times” garden column together, which got a great response, which made me happy. So briefly, I think for people who are listening from all over the place who may not have visited, tell us the lay of the non-land over there [laughter]. I mean, it is a nutty setup when you think about it.
Richard: When you think about it altogether, the fact that it happened at all is sometimes a miracle. So of course, it was an unused, elevated railway on the West Side of Manhattan. And over the course of the 20 years that the trains weren’t running, seeds
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Hey GPODers! Today we’re back in the flower-filled garden of Heidi Weirether. We first saw her garden a little earlier on in the summer (you check check out that post here: Heidi’s Colorful Garden in Fairfield County) and it’s incredible to see how much has changed in a month’s time! As with much of the northeast this year, Heidi is experiencing incredible hydrangea blooms—but that is just the tip of the floral iceberg in her sensational garden:
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