This week in HORT 1101 (well, last week actually), we had a landscape installation experience with Nina Bassuk (right), professor and head of the Urban Horticulture Institute at Cornell. The two lab groups were assigned sections of front slope of Comstock Hall to clean up existing plants (such as smoke bush, forsythia, juniper), incorporate compost, plant some improved plants from Plantasia Nursery and mulch the area.
With help from Kevin McGraw’s group from Cornell Grounds, we removed old damaged plants and got to explore the troubles and perils of urban soils. (The slope was made from building fill from Comstock Hall construction.) The students learned about new juniper and forsythia varieties and proper planting techniques, such as notching and facing plants.
The class’s legacy will now be on display for years to come beautifying the campus.
