Highlands Biological Foundation

Botanical Garden Committee Meeting

September 2ndMeeting Notes

  1. Forum – Presented by Helen Regnery. Transcription of the flip charts and in-garden exercises has been completed. These pieces are being tied to the agenda. Two of the tapes have been transcribed. All of the tapes have been indexed. By the next meeting we should have all the pieces available for review by the committee and be able to chart using the material to meet several goals (garden management, marketing, communication, etc.)
  2. Maintenance – Presented by Linda Barlow. Russell Funderburk provided Linda with four topics to discuss with the committee. Three are addressed here. The fourth is included below under the volunteer subgroup.

1) Russell would like to discuss thinning and/or removing two witchhazels and a red maple that are crowding a stewartia in the area near Lydia’s garden. Jack Johnson recommends managing for the stewartia, which is more rare. Since we have many witchhazels and red maples in the garden, it may be palatable to everyone to take this step. Committee members were asked to approve the recommendation for tree and shrub removal. The action was later approved pending Glenda Zahner’s feedback.

2) Jim would like to see the current highest priority safety hazard along the Coker Rhododendron trail solved using a system similar to the railing currently along Whitesides. Russell has priced out this part of the work. There will be other areas that need attention going forward, but this is the highest priority. Russell estimates the cost at $1,633. (Hillrie may be able to provide some equipment that would bring this cost down.) The expense was approved from the budget.

3)The committee has recommended removal of the daylilies around the Nature Center. Russell is ready to tackle that project soon. He will begin doing so, but once they are pulled up he wants to know what to do with them. The Mountain Garden Club, station volunteers, and committee member gardens were suggested. The daylilies were to be provided to anyone who was interested.

C.Volunteer Program – Presented by Hillrie Quin. Hillrie provided everyone with notes from a recent volunteer program meeting. Hillrie announced a volunteer day event to be held at the Nature Center on September 25th and invited everyone on the committee to attend. The committee approved an expenditure for lunch as part of the program, using the available budget.

Garden App. – Hillrie noted that the garden app is up and running, available now in IPhones (searching for Highlands Botanical Garden at the Apple Store should work). For Android users, Hillrie will have to help locate the app if people let him know of this need. He noted that the information on the app will continue to evolve.

Tablets – As part of this project, the Foundation budget included the purchase of several tablets. Hillrie plans to request a portion of the budgeted funds to secure the initial tablets.

  1. Collections –Presented by Glenda Zahner. The collections policy is starting to take shape. It reflects the thoughts that have been expressed over time by this committee and its predecessors, as well as the ideas that came out of the forum. Hopefully a draft will be available for distribution in time for the next meeting.
  2. Fern garden –Presented by Liz Sargent. Tom Goforth has reviewed the broad list of ferns that are currently included in the gardens at the station, and the additions that we may want to include in the future based on what is native to the plateau (Robert Wyatt has been involved in developing the list as well.) Tom is available to consult on the species composition to be featured in the current fern garden for a fee of $500. He is also offering to donate some of the plants that we will need. The committee approved the expenditure from the budget for Tom Goforth to consult. Tom and Liz will be on site the morning of September 25th to look at the garden. Anyone on the committee that wants to participate is welcome.
  3. Record Keeping –Presented by Liz Sargent on behalf of Lydia Macauley. Lydia has been keeping detailed records of our meetings. She plans to turn them over to the Station to be archived in the library at some point in the near future. Hillrie has offered to take over the job of keeping minutes of our meetings.
  4. Lighting design project – Presented by Linda Barlow. Linda has detailed plans for lighting around the Nature Center that were developed as a favor to her by a lighting designer. In April, Jim expressed a strong interest in adding lighting in front of the Nature Center. We have a line item in the budget to fund the installation of the lighting design this year. Linda and Sonya will pursue the steps that will be needed to get the project going. Once Linda has confirmed the costs, we will want to vote to move ahead with the expenditure. This may come later in the form of an email request.
  5. Landscape design program –Presented by Liz Sargent. Russell has asked that we help the station purchase a landscape design program for the computer that can be used to develop plans such as the rain garden designed by the interns in the future. The program that Russell identified is called Realtime Landscaping Architect. It costs $399. The station will get a 20% discount and will pay for half. The committee voted to contribute $160 to acquire the program, but have several suggestions for ensuring that it is a useful tool, such as whether it is compatible with the existing computer system.
  6. Tree removals – Presented by Liz Sargent. It is time to start identifying trees that need to be removed due to safety considerations along trails, parking areas, and buildings. Linda has offered to take a first look with Russell in a couple of weeks. This process usually extends over the fall months. We will take wildlife habitat into consideration and leave snags wherever possible as a shelter and food source.