"Yellowstone Arboretum Participation"

Volunteer Curator Scott Meyers has been selected to participate in "Arboversity", a national training curriculum program through the Morton Arboretum. Scott worked with colleagues from the Morton Arboretum and the new Alexander Caulder Garden in Philadelphia to establish a watering program for trees and plants in arboretums and botanical gardens that can be adapted across the country.

 

 

Horticulture staff at public gardens are key stewards of one our most valuable assets: our living collections. Finding, hiring, and retaining these skilled horticulture staff, however, is becoming more difficult.

Formal horticulture training programs are drying up; competition in the labor market is high; and gardens themselves don’t always have the time, resources, or infrastructure in place to support regular training or professional development. Entry-level horticulturists may not come in with the foundation of knowledge needed to effectively care for living collections, and experienced garden staff may not have the time to devote to developing consistent, comprehensive training programs.

To address these issues, The Morton Arboretum is developing a foundational curriculum for horticulture staff that will be applicable across the public garden industry. Training materials will be available for participating public gardens through Arborversity, The Morton Arboretum’s online learning management system.

At the end of this project, we will have developed:

A curriculum, co-created with professionals from across the country, that captures a shared understanding of the basic skills necessary for horticulture roles at public gardens; and
A suite of online courses, in-person training guides and checklists, and other learning materials to support that curriculum​​

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