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Horticulture Happenings
By William Nay, Horticulturist
Tigers, Bears, and Ike,
Oh My!
Fall was a very busy time for the
Horticulture Department. Dealing with the devastation of
Hurricane Ike in September included clearing numerous trees
blown down throughout the Zoo and tons of limbs scattered on
the ground or left hanging in trees after the 75 mph winds
tore through the Louisville area.
Some of the hardest hit areas included
Lemur Mountain, Rhino, Gorilla Forest playground, and
Islands. Our glass greenhouse also received extensive damage
as well as several fences in and around the Zoo.
(Unfortunately, Ike didn’t bring
any rain to relieve our mini drought.)
Other News
The Horticulture Department is
currently helping transform the area that will become
Glacier Run. The process of transplanting vast amounts of
plant material to different areas of the Zoo has begun. A
majority of the plants were moved to Lemur Mountain
including laurels, PJM rhododendrons, oakleaf hydrangeas and
beautyberries. Look for Douglas firs, weeping Alaskan cedars
and Englemann spruces in the fields near the Tiger Tundra
exhibit. The Cats of the Americas field is planted with
Brackens brown beauty magnolias and fringe trees.
(Originally published in the
December 2008 issue of Trunkline.)
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