Manhattan’s High Line gardens are celebrated for their mesmerizing naturalistic beauty throughout every season, despite unprecedented urban constraints: human-made beds installed 30 feet above street level along 1.5 miles of a decommissioned elevated rail line. Richard Hayden, the site’s senior director of horticulture since 2022, will present the plants, techniques and planning – including recent input from its designer, the legendary Piet Oudolf – that allow this exemplary urban park to flourish, evolve and inspire.  

Speaker’s Bio:

Richard Hayden is a passionate horticulturist dedicated to an ecological and naturalistic approach to garden care and design. He leads a team of horticulturists in the stewardship and public programming at the High Line gardens in New York City. He previously served as the assistant deputy director at the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County (NHMLA) where he was the primary project manager for the reimagining of the La Brea Tar Pits Museum and 11-acre park site. He also oversaw the Nature Gardens at NHMLA, a wildlife habitat garden on which he collaborated with scientists, educators and interpreters to promote the garden as a leading site for the study of urban nature. Richard is a past chair of the board of directors of the Pacific Horticulture Society and a past president of the Los Angeles District of the Association of Professional Landscape Designers. Prior to working in public horticulture, he worked for 20-plus years as a Los Angeles-based landscape designer. 

Additional Resources:

https://www.instagram.com/naturegardener/ 

 https://awaytogarden.com/the-high-lines-naturalistic-gardening-lessons-with-richard-hayden/ 

 https://www.nytimes.com/2024/06/26/realestate/high-line-nyc.html