By Tara Kyle
DNAinfo Reporter/Producer
CHELSEA — The High Line, the 1.4 mile park built over a former elevated railroad spur on the West Side, is going to be a leafier place in the not-too-distant future.
In recent weeks, some 600 cubic yards of fresh dirt have been spread onto a new section of the High Line, where the latest batch of plants and trees will be visible in a new section that's scheduled to open in spring 2011.
The first flora to sprout from planting beds in the park, which currently runs from West 20th to West 25th streets, includes flowering dogwood and bottlebrush buckeye, a perennial that blooms in the summer. And soon, cranes will be brought to help lay the roots of a collection of American holly trees.
Keeping plants healthy on the High Line involves different challenges than within other New York City parks and zoos.
Because the old rail tracks are 30 feet above ground, temperatures in the summer are typically five degrees hotter than at street level, according to Melissa Fisher, director of horticulture for the Friends of the High Line. In the winter, temperatures are five degrees colder.
“It’s like if you’re driving — a bridge is always the first thing to freeze,” Fisher said. High winds can also push roots out of the soil, making them more vulnerable to temperature extremes.
The string of heat waves hitting the city this summer has heightened those difficulties.
Except for trees and shrubs, which get hydration through drip irrigation systems, all plants on the High Line are hand watered, Fisher said. High temperatures have forced gardeners to keep very detailed records of how they disperse themselves among the rail line’s tens of thousands of plants.
In one sense, High Line gardeners said the novelty and popularity of the elevated walkway makes their work here easier than in other city parks and zoos.
“People are a lot more respectful because it’s so beautiful,” said gardener Jim Russell, a 51-year-old Brooklynite. Consequently, he said the High Line contains less “defensive planting” such as thorns and other flora designed to limit visitors’ movements.
But the heavy flow of park visitors still poses problems.
“Other places, they are like, "'where’ the bathroom?'” said Kyla Dippong, 48, who has about 20 years of experience as a gardener in New York parks and zoos. At the High Line, she said, “You can spend more time chatting than you do gardening.”
