International Gardener Hands-On Training Monthly Rotations

Outdoor Display

Students maintain herbaceous and woody plants in several sections of the Gardens. Duties include planting, weeding, mulching, watering, pruning, staking, and fertilizing. Students may work with woody plants, herbs, bulbs, ground covers, roses, vegetables, and fruits in some of Longwood’s most intensively cultivated areas. In addition, students may prepare trees and shrubs for transporting from the nursery to the display area by hand digging, ball-and-burlapping, or using a mechanical tree spade.

Indoor Display

Students work on seasonally changing displays which include annuals, perennials, tropical plants, and bulbs. Students may work with palms, aquatics, orchids, bananas, roses, ferns, succulents, bonsai, espaliered fruit, and Mediterranean flora. Duties include grooming, planting, and maintaining plant displays.

Production

Students gain greenhouse experience in propagation, training, and general care of ornamental plants for use in the Conservatory displays. Assignments include potting and transplanting seedlings, cuttings, bulbs, and mature plants as well as pinching, pruning, tying, watering, and changing plantings in the Conservatory displays.

Research

Research involves evaluation and development of new ornamental plants for greenhouse and outdoor display. Student duties include plant maintenance, plant propagation, data collection, labeling, and record keeping.

Curatorial

Students gain exposure to a wide variety of plants in virtually all parts of the garden. Each student works closely with the Curatorial staff on diverse projects including plant acquisition, identification, labeling, inventory, mapping, and plant trials data collecting.

Integrated Pest Management

Students gain practical experience by assisting the IPM Coordinator in scouting for and diagnosing pest problems throughout the gardens, indoors, and outdoors. The student performs applied research projects, designs and implements pest sampling and monitoring programs, and develops lectures and displays concerning IPM. Students may apply a variety of biological, cultural, and chemical controls, and evaluate the effectiveness of these treatments. A Pennsylvania Pesticide Applicator's License may be required and can be obtained while at Longwood.

Arboriculture

Arboriculture students learn and refine tree care skills amid an excellent collection of century-old specimens, trimmed allées, and woodland areas. The work involves tree climbing and pruning and requires the use of hand tools, chain saws, chippers, and bucket trucks. Duties may include tree trimming and cabling, bracing, hedge pruning, and tree health evaluation.