Trees are the essence of Longwood, and an exceptionally important part of our past, our present, and our future. There have been many stewards of the land that is now called Longwood Gardens, and trees are why Longwood founder Pierre S. du Pont purchased the then-Peirce farm—to save its historic trees started in the 1800s from being cut for lumber. Today, nearly 10,000 trees call our more than 1,100 acres of gardens, woodlands, and meadows home—of which we are incredibly proud. Stewarding these trees is of utmost importance to us and is a far-reaching effort that takes a great deal of planning, dedication, and foresight. Considering the vastness of our collection, our operations, and our acreage, it might be surprising to learn that a dedicated team of just three full-time woody nursery horticulturists manages our seven-acre woody nursery, supporting all our seasonal and permanent woody plants. Yet, they do so with a great deal of expertise and meticulous planning.
Situated adjacent to our nursery production greenhouse, our seven-acre woody nursery grows many of Longwood’s hardy woody plants—which includes trees and shrubs—in case replacements are needed in the Gardens. Here, on these seven acres, you’ll find more than 2,000 container plants, as well as 1,200 to 1,500 plants growing in a given year—from rows of boxwood (Buxus microphylla var. japonica ‘Green Beauty’) to support our Main Fountain Garden to yew (Taxus baccata) of various forms to support our Topiary Garden, and serve as sources of shearing practice for the team.
Nursery Manager Patrick Joyce has led a nursery production class for our Professional Horticulture Program students. The nursery has served as a place to not only learn about producing plants from propagation to growing, transplanting to digging, but also a place to operate equipment and learn horticultural practices before working in the Gardens. Photo by Patrick Joyce.
In the unfortunate event we lose one of our majestic giants, for aesthetic reasons, we can’t replace it with a sapling. Instead, we are able to replace it with a tree that has been growing—often for years—in our woody nursery. One of our woody nursery’s most detailed efforts is supporting our Specimen Tree Replacement (STR) Plan, through which Longwood preserves the germplasm, or genetics of certain trees—original trees dating back to the 1800s, state champion trees, and those valuable to the aesthetic landscape of the Gardens. The STR Plan serves as part of our tree management plan, which helps guide the care of historical trees, while taking climate change modeling into account, to help make informed decisions when selecting trees for new plantings or replacements.
The nursery and outdoor landscapes team plants a tree along Route 1. Photo provided by Patrick Joyce.
It’s a tall order, as Longwood has the most reported champion trees in the state of Pennsylvania—a towering 63 Pennsylvania champion trees. By propagating and cloning those trees, such as our historic yellow cucumber magnolia (Magnolia acuminata var. subcordata ‘Peirce’s Park’), Longwood creates genetically identical specimens that ensure the best traits endure for centuries to come. When that historic yellow cucumber magnolia fell after strong wind guests in April 2020, our nursery’s efforts in propagating that beloved tree and planting resulting trees throughout the Gardens meant that those new trees honored their fallen ancestor in the form of new growth and a strong future.
A resulting tree from our yellow cucumber magnolia propagation efforts, shown being planted in Peirce’s Park in April 2013. Photo by Steve Fellows.
Our woody nursery also grows many of the woody plants needed for our seasonal displays—think hundreds of winterberry hollies for A Longwood Christmas to the changing plant palette of our seasonal Garden Railway. Working with our horticultural designers, our woody nursery team plans how many, and what, will be needed to bring those seasonal display visions to life. An added challenge? Just like the trees our woody nursery plants grow for replacement purposes, it can sometimes take five to six years, or even longer, after planting before a given woody plant is ready for display—so a high level of anticipation, forethought, and communication is required.
Research Nursery Grower Mike Hill (left) and Nursery Manager Patrick Joyce (right) drum-lace a Fagus s. ‘Tortusa’, a propagule from the large specimen in the Hillside Garden and part of the Specimen Tree Replacement Plan. This tree was transplanted near the Idea Garden. Photo by Patrick Joyce.
Another aspect that makes our woody nursery so unusual in the nursery industry is that we don’t sell anything that’s grown here. Instead, everything that’s grown and cared for at the woody nursery is done so for Longwood purposes—whether it be for a seasonal display or to have a back-up in case of the unexpected. Our nursery horticulturists can take the time they need to train plants at the nursery until they are ready to be planted in the Gardens, which contrasts with typical commercial nursery practices.
Digging takes place at our nursery. Photo by Patrick Joyce.
To support all of these efforts across our Gardens, our woody nursery team requires a variety of skills from basic nursery growing practices to large tree transplanting and installation. Our staff is able to dig trees with machines as well as tackle digging and drum lacing by hand. The trees are transported to the Gardens by various means and then installed, sometimes with large cranes. One such effort took place just a few weeks ago when our nursery team helped transplant a 28-foot-tall dawn redwood (Metasequoia glyptostroboides), grown at the nursery, to its new home near the Pumphouse Plaza. With a root ball spanning 96 inches in diameter and the tree weighing 12,000 pounds, it was quite an effort that required a crane be used, as well as coordination and expertise among our Outdoor Landscapes, Nursery, Civil, and Soils and Compost teams.
From left to right, Nursery Manager Patrick Joyce, Senior Horticulturist Dave Schurr, Nursery Woody Plant Production Joe Shughart, Horticulturist Maya Czulewicz, Professional Horticulture Student Joe Reynolds, Senior Horticulturist Brianna Reid, and Horticulturist Militca Denee stand next to the 28-foot-tall dawn redwood in the nursery, prior to the tree’s journey to the Gardens. Photo by Tyler Altenburger.
For Nursery Manager Patrick Joyce, his work at Longwood is, in a word, “rewarding”. “We propagate, train, prune, and care for our trees, and then we have the pleasure of seeing them displayed. Watching them thrive in the Gardens after all that effort is my favorite part of the process. It's incredibly rewarding to witness the fruits of our labor flourish and bring beauty to the Gardens, making all our hard work truly worthwhile.”
