When Kerlly Bernabé first arrived in the late ’90s, The New York Botanical Garden served as more of a “look but don’t touch” establishment. The Everett Children’s Adventure Garden, far from the hub of children’s activities it is today, was little more than a blueprint doodle. But it was on that same day, with the appearance of our first Explainers, that all of this began to shift for the better.

Kerlly’s four years as one of the original Garden Explainers resulted in the founding of one of the most significant volunteer programs of any cultural institution in New York City. Today, these high school students–aged 14 to 17–work daily to make learning more than a chore, engaging kids and families throughout the Garden in hands-on activities and open exploration. In helping to build this thriving program, each Explainer leaves with not only a newfound knowledge of nature, but a sound jumping-off point for opportunities in their education and careers. Perhaps more importantly, they leave with a sense of confidence and responsibility.
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On any given day, our Twitter feed is a flood of information from fans, friends, fellow institutions and the daily happenings of New York City. But now and then we stumble over the kind of encouraging Garden adventure that pushes us to keep doing what we’re doing. That was the case last week, when Doing Art Together found its way into the stream.

Executive Director Heather-Marie Brooks Montilla and her colleagues are heroes of a sort. I don’t think they run into burning buildings all that often; neither are they with the Coast Guard. But they’re as committed to their cause as any fireman. And Doing Art Together (DAT), the group’s long-running educational program, is something of a rescue operation in its own right. Focused on under-resourced children and young adults aged four to 21, these teachers have spent decades working to keep the city’s kids on the right path, turning to art, day in and day out, to make a positive mark on impressionable minds.
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Suppose you really can’t draw, but always wished you could…especially when it comes to drawing those gorgeous blooms in your backyard. Well now’s your chance to make your wish come true: Botanical Drawing I is just one of the new summer intensive classes offered by NYBG starting in July. Think of it as a summer camp experience designed for grown-ups.

With the botanical drawing class, in just one week you’ll learn specific techniques for drawing accurately, including professional standards of form, measuring, foreshortening, and perspective. The classes are offered in July (9 through 13) or August (6 through 10), at NYBG and the Midtown Manhattan Center, respectively.
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Especially because this winter feels like an early springtime, it’s time to get excited for a new season of the Children’s Gardening Program at the two-acre Ruth Rea Howell Family Garden. As of February 1, we opened registration for our popular Crafters and Sprouts for the spring, summer, and fall sessions.

Garden Sprouts introduces three- to five-year-olds and their accompanying parent to garden exploration, from digging for earthworms to planting seeds. Sprouts enjoy seasonal gardening tasks, the opportunity to sample garden-fresh produce grown in their own plots, and activities especially crafted for the young green thumb.
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The mid-winter break is coming up on the calendar for local school kids, leaving us just a bit excited here at The New York Botanical Garden. Not that we’re taking any vacations for ourselves, mind you. For the first time, we’re throwing open our gates as one of the world’s premier centers for botanical science, welcoming curious young minds as we turn the Garden into a 250-acre classroom, laboratory, and learning playground.

Winter Science Camp offers children a “behind the scenes” learning experience under the guidance of the NYBG’s world-renowned plant educators. Kids will investigate plants in the Herbarium unseen by the public, enjoy early-morning exploration in the Forest, and experience a curriculum you just won’t find in the local elementary school schedule. Where else can they try their hand at planting vegetables, or pressing their own botanical specimens?
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The GreenSchool is a classroom and a laboratory for school groups from New York City and beyond, but it’s not just the students who are in for a treat. Teachers and chaperones are also likely to be delighted by any trip to the GreenSchool. The journey of discovery begins as you step into the incredible Enid A. Haupt Conservatory, wend your way through the fascinating houses, and emerge into the Deserts of the Americas. Descend the stairs and turn right, you’ll see a turtle petroglyph carved by the Lenape tribe, and a mysterious set of slatted green doors labeled, “GreenSchool.” Behind those doors lies a world of wonder and scientific exploration.

My name is Jonathan Billig and it is my honor and privilege to work as the GreenSchool Science Education Intern. I have been here for the last seven months, and in two more I’ll have to move on, to make way for another eager educator. He or she will learn how to use inquiry-based education, perform administrative tasks such as arranging the GreenSchool schedule, and do a lot of minute work for a very great cause; I’m about to prepare 300 bean sprouts for kindergarteners to pry open and observe in next week’s Life Cycle classes.

Our greatest resources at the GreenSchool are the curiosity of our students, our amazing instructors, and the living library that is The New York Botanical Garden. Classroom work is important, don’t get me wrong, but kids really blossom when they can put their learning into a living context. “What? A Kapok tree sends water to its leaves 250 feet in the air so that it can do photosynthesis?” “What are those lines on the leaves? Are they like the veins in our arms?” The varied environments of the Conservatory, and the diverse collections outside, provide a wealth of educational experience that students rarely forget.

In the three rooms of the Green School, instructors help students explore the scientific wonders of botany, gardening, ecology, and more. Students visiting the GreenSchool might practice microscope skills by observing an Elodea leaf at 400x, or examine the flowers, stems, seeds, roots and leaves that make up our botanical diet, like broccoli. “Broccoli is a flower!? And it tastes so good. This is changing my life!” That was said by a second grade boy from the Bronx.

The GreenSchool is at its best when you see kids connecting first-hand experience to advanced scientific concepts. We teach about the water cycle first by asking kids to observe where they notice water in the Conservatory, or where they think it might be. Then, through drawing, discussion, and explanation in our classrooms, we contextualize that information. It’s a wonder to see students begin to understand how water moves through every ecosystem, from a distant rain forest to a tiny apartment!

So the next time you see those mysterious green slatted doors, hopefully you will be with a school group so you can come in and learn with us. If not, rest assured that there’s a whole lot of wonder behind those doors, and a whole lot you can learn outside of the GreenSchool, no matter your age!

Brad Roeller is a research horticulturalist at the Cary Institute of Ecosystem Studies, formerly the Mary Flagler Cary Arboretum of The New York Botanical Garden. He has been an instructor at the Botanical Garden for over 25 years.

Over my three decades of gardening in the public arena, I’ve seen numerous landscaping trends come and go. However, landscaping with natives has always been popular, with current interest in this genre at an all-time high—and with good reason! A designer with a strong native plant background can meet virtually any design need by using native plants. Further, these days there seems to be something of a clarion call in the green industry to landscape with natives. I’m witnessing private, commercial, and even municipal planting specifications that are mandating, or at least strongly encouraging, using native plants in landscape designs.

While this trend is sweeping the country, landscaping with natives is often done without much thought. Typically the designer is just substituting native counterparts of exotic plants using conventional design criteria. As with the increased interest in natives, another “in” industry phenomena is the concept of creating “sustainable” gardens and landscapes. My definition of a sustainable landscape is one where, once the plants are established (typically a one- to two-year process) the need for additional irrigation, fertilization, or pesticides should be nil. Sounds nice, but I have seen very few examples of sustainable landscapes.

Many “sustainable” landscape designers are using the “natural” model, going “wild” by using native plants in a more naturalistic design. While these intentions are laudable, unless one thoroughly analyzes the growing characteristics of the property and makes wise plant selections based on their investigations, their plantings are destined to need continued sustenance. Even if the necessary site investigations are made and plants are selected based upon growing constraints, unless accepted planting and post-planting care guidelines are used, even the best natives for your site will perform poorly.

One popular application associated with landscaping with natives involves restoration projects in woodlands, meadows, wetlands or other riparian areas where the goal is to introduce indigenous native species back into their representative habitats. This approach is also finding some popularity in residential and even commercial landscapes. While it is typically used for large areas that have varying degrees of functioning native plant communities present, it does have a place in “small” landscapes. The time has come for ecologically designed landscape, and there is no reason that even the smallest of landscapes can’t duplicate a particular and appropriate habitat and landscape with plants obligate to that ecological niche.

This approach is not for the faint of heart and does require something of a learning curve. A working knowledge of the natives of your region coupled with an understanding of some important ecological principles is essential in establishing sustainable native plant communities.

Brad Roeller will be teaching three classes March 28 during Native Plants Saturday, an all-day Continuing Education program in the Watson Education Building at The New York Botanical Garden.

Jeff Downing is Vice President for Education.

I speak with prospective landscape design students all the time. Many are in the process of considering career changes. They come from all walks of life and every field imaginable: marketing, graphic design, management, even law and medicine. They seek to move in a different direction for a wide variety of reasons, but all are intrigued by the possibility of a life working with plants outside the confines of a corporate office or just outside altogether. Many (but not all) seek the autonomy of developing a business of their own. But no matter what their history or interest, they all have one burning question: “If I earn a certificate in landscape design at The New York Botanical Garden, will I really be equipped to start a successful career?”

My answer to these queries is simple and succinct: “Yes.”

I say this with confidence not because of the comprehensiveness of the curriculum, the long history of the program, or the demonstrated excellence of the instructors—all of which are compelling recommendations in their own right. The true measure of the Garden’s landscape design program is the results. And I see the results each month when the Landscape Design Students and Alumni (LDSA) group holds its regular meetings down the hall from my office.

The LDSA has been meeting at the Garden since before I arrived 10 years ago. Once a month, 30 to 50 current and former students get together to hear presentations on different topics relevant to the professional practice of landscape design—estimating jobs, sourcing materials, considering ecological factors, developing their businesses—and to network with fellow alums who are out in the field working. The group is independently run and supported by the students themselves. The Garden provides a classroom—they do the rest.

To me, the LDSA group stands as a living, breathing testament to the success of the Garden’s landscape design program. There I reconnect with former students who’ve gone on to start successful businesses of their own, or to work with established firms. In many cases, I can recall my first conversations with them, when they were tentatively wondering whether pursuing a certificate would lead them to a new career. Now, with confidence in their eyes and business cards in their hands, they come back to share their experiences with their fellow pros and discuss the projects they’ve completed and the lessons they’ve learned. For me, that is the real measure of the program’s merit.

On Saturday, March 14, the Garden will host a free Continuing Education Open House. Come sit in on mini-classes, speak with instructors and program coordinators, and participate in career talks to hear first-hand what the Garden’s certificate programs can do for you. Spring and summer classes are all online now. Register online, or request a copy of our latest catalog. Spring is a great time to plant the seeds of a new career!