BHS Horticulture Students Get Practical Knowledge
 | Author:
Patrick Plantenberg, Tree Board Chair
Townsend Tree Board Chair, Townsend Rotary Club |
BHS Horticulture Students Get Practical Knowledge
Patrick Plantenberg, Tree Board Chair
The Townsend Tree Board was not going to order trees in 2023.
Tree Board volunteers are having trouble keeping up with maintaining the existing hundreds of trees they have planted over the last 33 years.
Jemma Loughery, Broadwater High School Horticulture Class Instructor and member of the Tree Board Advisory Council approached the Tree Board and asked if the Tree Board could at least order some trees so her students could learn some basic nursery and arboricultural skills.
The students learn how to grow annuals in the BHS greenhouse on campus. The students are available in May to help the Tree Board prune trees, unload trees, pot trees, and plant trees. The Tree Board ordered one-third of the number of trees it normally orders.
This May, Patrick Plantenberg of the Tree Board worked with the students. They learned basic pruning principles and pruned trees on the campus. They helped pot trees at the Tree Board nursery north of the Copy Cup (Photo 1).
They helped plant trees on North Pine, Heritage Park, Front Street, and North Cherry. Patrick also reviewed the new landscaping being done at the school and explained the good and bad components of the plan.
Finally, the students even got to do tree surgery on a tree that was failing on campus.
Jemma and Patrick hope the experiences the students learned may stimulate one or more of the students to pursue a career at a garden center, nursery, or with a landscaping contractor. Next year, Jemma and Patrick hope to continue the program.
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PhotoCredit: Pat Plantenberg
Image 1 Caption: BHS horticulture students helping pot trees at Tree Board nursery.
