Sustaining the Heather Garden for the Next 75 Years

The crown jewel of Fort Tryon Park, the Heather Garden, is one of the largest heath and heather gardens

on the East Coast and the largest pub-lic garden with unrestricted access in New York City. As the three-acre gar-den is fast approaching its 75th birthday, many people are working to ensure that it remains a vital New York City, State, and Federal scenic landmark.

Flanked by stone walls and the remnants of Cornelius G.K. Billings’ early 1900’s estate and featuring spectacular views of the Hudson River, the Heather Garden hosts over 50 varieties of heaths and heathers, whose winter and summer blooms and colorful foliage create a de-lightful array of color year round. Two hundred varieties of peren-nials and shrubs add eye-catching shapes, textures and contrasts to the Heather Garden.

Today’s visitors may be surprised to learn that after the fi scal crisis of the 1970’s, much of the garden’s original splendor was entirely lost to overgrowth, invasive tree growth, and declining maintenance. Even the views of the Hudson River were obstructed. The vistas visitors en-joy today are largely the result of the 1983 Landscape Restoration Plan. Jane Schachat, a former Park Administrator, painstakingly over-saw the Heather Garden’s restoration, which was funded by the Greenacre Foundation and executed by landscape architect and Trust Board Member Nicholas Quennell of Quennell Rothschild & Partners.

Over the last several decades, the Greenacre Foundation and more re-cently, the Fort Tryon Park Trust, have continued to fund dedicated staffi ng and horticultural supplies, equipment and plants to complement the resourc-

es of the New York City Department of Parks & Recreation and to preserve the splendor of the Heather Garden.

October 2010 will mark Fort Tryon Park’s 75th anniversary, and the Trust wants to ensure that the Heather Garden will continue to thrive and serve as a respite to New Yorkers, ir-respective of the City’s fi scal climate. The Trust has engaged Lynden Miller, the Public Garden Designer, to devel-op a Framework Plan for enhancing and sustaining the Heather Garden for the long term. Miller is known for her public garden work in Bryant Park,

Garden. The Framework Plan will tackle recurring soil problems, identi-fy ways to open up and frame views, expand existing perennial groupings, and incorporate small shrubs at key locations to create more structure and cohesiveness in the garden year round. The approach will help minimize on-going maintenance of the garden, and yet preserve its romantic feel and oth-erworldly aura.

In addition to serving as a guide for the garden’s ongoing management, the Framework Plan will facilitate fundraising to ensure the garden’s

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Fall 2009 www.FortTryonParkTrust.org

Friends CommitteeGazette

Jennifer Hoppa, Administrator for Northern Manhattan Parks

future care. The Trust is currently fundraising for the Heather Garden Framework Plan. To learn more or to contribute, contact Jennifer Hoppa or go the Trust website.

This fall, the Fort Tryon gardeners will be busy transplanting and plant-ing, so come up to the garden to see their progress. ■

Central Park’s Conservatory Garden, Madison Square Park, the Perennial Garden at the New York Botanical Garden and Columbia University.

Miller has been working with the Trust and the Parks Department gar-deners to help identify ways to build upon and preserve the unique horticul-tural and historic assets of the Heather

For 75 years, New Yorkers and visitors from around the globe have sought respite in Fort Tryon Park’s Heather Garden.

2 Friends Committee Gazette

Nancy’s Letter: Partnership

• Fort Tryon Park Trust Website: www.FortTryonParkTrust.org• Friends Committee Email: Friends@FortTyronPark.net• To volunteer in the Heather Garden: marechal.brown@parks.nyc.gov• Northern Manhattan Parks Administrator, Jennifer Hoppa: 212-795-1388, Ext. 300 or jennifer.hoppa@parks.nyc.gov• Council Member Robert Jackson: 212-928-1322• To report dangerous conditions or graffi ti and other vandalism: 311• Forestry (tree pruning, dead tree and limb removal): 311• For event permits, parties of 20 or more, and professional photography, please visit www.nycgovparks.org,

and click on special events.Cont

acts

Pancakes in the Park fi lled 220 bellies, and thanks to local jazz vocalist Louise Rodgers and bassist Rick Strong, the event also fi lled our hearts with song. Hundreds more visitors also shopped at the Neighborhood Yard Sale to support the park.

The record-breaking rainfall this summer was matched by the record-breaking number of activities hosted in our park. New partnerships have yielded new activities for the mind, body and spirit — from yoga and fi tness to music, theatre, art and volunteer opportunities. And much more is planned for the fall.

Special thanks to some of these new partners for their great ideas and generous donation of time and energy:

Robert Martinez, a licensed acupuncturist, for Tai Chi classes;

Jeanne Atkin, owner of Pinehurst Healing Arts, and Marcus DeGrazia, a licensed acupuncturist, for Qi Gong classes;

Yoga teachers Nancy Elkes, Edya Kalev, Alyane Faraone, Shephali Patel and Amy Pope; and

Julia Attaway, a Friends Committee member, for leading the children’s nature exploration program and cultivating the imaginations of the future stewards of our park.

The Friends Committee’s free Fitness Programs, recently featured in Time Out New York magazine (see http://tiny.cc/ftptimeout), continue to be a great vehicle for engaging and serving our community. The weekly fi tness walks, led by yours truly, will continue through the winter.

Although rain cancelled “Art in the Park” on June 13th, we hosted Gorilla Repertoire’s Joan of Arc 16 times in July and eight performances of Julius Cesar in August – all free and open to the public. The fi rst annual jazz concert honoring Stan Michels and featuring Marjorie Eliot and her jazz ensemble attracted over 200 guests to the Promenade. Richard Baronio’s “Spotted Leaf ” sculpture is a temporary public art piece that we’ll continue to enjoy in the Heather Garden through October 2nd. On October 4th, we look forward to the 25th Annual Medieval Festival sponsored

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by the Washington Heights and Inwood Development Corporation, the NYC Department of Parks & Recreation, the Trust, and our local elected offi cials.

We hope to partner with area residents and organizations like the Northern Manhattan Arts Alliance to bring more free performances, art installations and dance workshops to the park. If you have ideas for expanding the arts or fi tness in Fort Tryon, contact Jennifer Hoppa, Northern Manhattan Parks Administrator.

Considerable progress has also been made in the Alpine Garden since May, including extensive tree pruning, dead tree removal, bench upgrades, new entrance gardens and the installation of an historic drinking fountain. Nicholas Quennell’s spectacular design for the grotto is approved, and we plan to have a plaque dedication and community celebration with the Peter Jay Sharp Foundation and the Cleveland Dodge Foundation on October 7th. We hope you’ll join us.

The Trust continues to mobilize large groups of volunteers to come and beautify the park each month and regularly hosts volunteers from institutions like Yeshiva University and corporations like Deloitte & Touche. So far this year, volunteers have contributed more than 4,300 hours to park beautifi cation. New volunteers are always welcome.

Thank you again to our current and future partners.

See you in the park,

Nancy BruningChair, Friends CommitteeFort Tryon Park Trust

Manhattan Parks Commissioner Bill Castro, Honoree Luis Miranda and his wife Luz Townes-Miranda, Nancy Bruning and Jennifer Hoppa share the terrace stage at the June 4th “Toast to Fort Tryon Park.”Mission Fort Tryon Park Trust’s mission is to promote the restoration,

preservation, and enhancement of this historic and scenic landmark for the benefi t and use of the surrounding community and all New Yorkers.

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Photo by Aliza Holtz

Friends Committee Gazette 3

What the Dinosaurs Ate in Fort Tryon Park

Could an Apatosaurus have eaten crabapples? Would a Pachycephalosaurus prefer oaks?

Which plants in Fort Tryon Park could the huge herbivores of old have eaten for lunch?

This spring, two groups of pint-sized paleobotanists stepped back in time to fi nd out thanks to a new children’s program sponsored by the Greenacre Foundation.

The fi rst stop was the Triassic Period, 248 to 206 million years ago. Here the children examined ferns, some of the earliest vascu-lar plants. Ferns began in a pre-seed era; even today, they repro-duce by releasing spores, which are usually transported via water. Plant fossils — far more nu-merous than preserved dinosaur bones — provide clues to which fl ora arrived fi rst. Comparing today’s ferns to fossil imprints tells us that the fronds at the end of the Heather Garden are very similar to their ancient rel-atives, albeit smaller.

Next stop: the Jurassic Period, 206 to 144 million years ago, home to giant herbivores like the Apatosaurus, Brachiosaurus and Barosaurus. By now the world had conifers, like the many yews and pines in the park. Conifers are gymnosperms

with no known relatives. During the Cretaceous Period, 144

to 65 million years ago, the Triceratops, Iguanodon, Ankylosaurus and Pachycephalosaurus munched on early fl owering plants, including perhaps relatives of today’s oaks. The magnolias and laurels that dot Fort Tryon Park are prime examples of fl ora of the time. Magnolias devel-oped the ability to be pollinated by beetles. Most fl owering plants had to wait for the appearance of bees be-fore they could survive and thrive.

Although we don’t know for sure which dinosaurs roamed the area, the young paleobotanists conclud-ed their exploration by creating menus for a “Dinosaur Diner,” replete with pictures of the plants they’d learned about. Cypress for break-fast, anyone? ■

Fort Tryon Park TrustCo-Chairs: Edie Kean, Joseph Pierson

Friends Committee Offi cersChair: Nancy BruningVice Chair, Parks Liaison & Beautifi cation: Mike KleinVice Chair, Cultural Outreach Coordinator: Rosa NaparstekTreasurer: Jack MuradVolunteer Table Coordinator: Gwendolyn Boey-AugenblickResource and Policy Coordinator: Francisco Menendez

GazetteEditor: Mary Beth Ryan-MaherContributors: Julia Attaway, Nancy Bruning, Marcia Garibaldi, Regina Gradess, Aliza Holtz, Jennifer Hoppa, Mike Klein, Alane MasonDesign and Printing: Kaufman Brothers Printing

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Milo Priddle examines a gingko leaf.

Volunteer Impact Mike Klein

One Sunday each month, volun-teers from near and far converge on Fort Tryon Park to contrib-

ute to its ongoing maintenance and beautifi cation. An impressive turn-out of 65 volunteers on June 28 includ-ed participants from all fi ve boroughs, New Jersey, groups from Ernst & Young, Baruch College and Fordham University, and even a visitor from San Francisco. The July 26 and August 30 events attracted a sizable number of volunteers and a good per-centage from the local neighborhood who pitched in by collecting trash along the Stan Michels Promenade, weeding the fl ower beds surrounding Margaret Corbin Circle, and clear-ing invasive vines and plants from the areas near the 190th Street sub-way station. You have an open invi-tation to join us. Refreshments are always served. ■

Julia Attaway

(“naked seeds”). Seeds have an advan-tage over spores because they contain a fully developed embryo with a built-in food supply. Pollen can be transport-ed by the wind or by animals, so that plants don’t have to live right near water in order to reproduce.

And while Apatosaurus would not

have had any crabapples to eat, it may have devoured gingko biloba, another extant plant from this period — a tree

Friends Committee of the Fort Tryon Park TrustP.O. Box 1044, Fort George StationNew York, NY 10040www.FortTryonParkTrust.org

Fitness WalksTuesdays and Thursdays 7:30 AM – 8:30 AMSaturdays 8:30 - 9:30 AMwith optional walk to the Green Market on Isham Street afterwards

All levels welcome. Meet at the entrance to the Heather Garden at Margaret Corbin Circle.

Star and Planet GazingWednesdays: Oct 21, Nov 18 and Dec 168:30 PM – 10:00 PM

Cloisters Lawn, weather permitting; telescopes available.

Nature Walks with Mike FellerSaturdays: Sept 26, Oct 31 and Nov 21 8:00 AM - 10:00 AMWednesday: Oct 7 6:30 – 8:00 PM

25th Annual Medieval FestivalOctober 4 (rain date October 11)11:30 AM – 6:00 PM

Uptown Treasures at Fort Tryon ParkOctober 1811:00 AM – 5:00 PM

Commemoration of the Battleof Fort WashingtonNovember 15 on the Café Lawn12 Noon – 3:00 PM

Visit www.FortTryonParkTrust.org for more details.

Fantastic Fall at the Fort FREE

PresortFirst ClassUS Postage

PAIDFlushing, NY

Permit #1059

VOLUNTEERSWANTED

Join us for planting!October 25

10 am to 2 pmMeet at

Margaret Corbin Circle

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auPlanting a tree, clearing debris and English ivy

from around Margaret Corbin Circle, trimming

hedges, and painting the cast iron fence along Fort Washington

Avenue were just some of the tasks

our volunteers took on this spring and

summer. Nearly 200 volunteers

joinedin the fun.