Walking through the Buttrick Gardens this season, take a closer look at the trees and shrubs around you. Last summer, park staff, interns, and volunteers were hard at work pruning and planting woody species throughout the Buttrick Gardens.
In July, the park hosted a training workshop led by Chris Wood, Arborist at Heirloom Tree and Shrub Care. Chris and his team demonstrated pruning techniques for mature junipers and rhododendrons in the Sunken Garden and East Terraces (image above). Chris shared, “As a kid, I played in these garden rooms. Now, as a professional arborist, I want to share my technical skills to guide a team to rejuvenate the garden trees and shrubs.” Horticultural Intern Aidan Volpone adds, “The garden frames views to the North Bridge. We carried out rejuvenation and reduction pruning to preserve the garden’s design intent.”
In the Formal Garden, park staff and interns undertook an exciting tree restoration project. Historically, the Flower Garden featured six heavily pruned columnar juniper trees, also known as Eastern Red Cedar (Juniperus virginiana). These trees, up to sixty feet tall, are visible in photos from the 1960s (image above left). Last August, park staff planted six new junipers in their place (image above right). These new junipers now stand just five feet tall and are a dwarf cultivar (Juniperus virginiana ‘Taylor’). They will eventually reach 15 to 25 feet, bringing back the scale and feeling of the historic garden.
The West Slope received new plantings as well. Aging dwarf spruce currently stand along the walkway. In anticipation of these trees’ decline, park staff planted three young Bird’s Nest Spruce (Picea abies ‘Nidiformis’) and one Goblin dwarf spruce (Picea abies ‘Goblin’) alongside them last September. Though small now, these trees will one day grow to fill the gaps of the aging trees above and preserve the magic of this garden corner. Two of the most popular aged trees in the garden are the weeping hemlocks (Tsuga canadensis ‘Sargentii’). Now about 80 years old, these remarkable trees require careful management and protection. The team removed shrubs and vines that were crowding the trees and discouraged visitors from climbing in the trees. With lifelong garden stewards, we look forward to the next century of remarkable trees and shrubs in the Buttrick Gardens!
Written by Margie Brown, Integrated Resources Program Manager at Minute Man National Historical Park.