Tree Nursery Mill Creek
The tree nursery for Mill Creek would relate to the students academic development by using the nursery as an outdoor classroom with an on site full-time horticulturist, and part-time instructors from local organizations/colleges/nurseries/etc. The program could be tied into field trips to the Franklin Institute/
Morris Arboretum/ plantings in and around Fairmount Park, and Old City.
These courses and trips would be on horticulture/seasonal changes/the birds/butterflies
these trees attract, etc.
There would also be courses covering hydrology/topography/geology.
The Funding Acquisition Process:
This project, being large in scope and costs, would require Large corporate funding.
These sources would be found in the public sector, large private companies, i.e.
PECO, Philadelphia water and sewer, Charitable trusts.
Example: lighting supplied by PECO; water pumps and installation supplied by the water company; Pathway materials (i.e. mulch and gravel) donated by wholesalers in the nursery industry
Staff: A full time horticulturist, Part-time educators in horticulture, hydrology, geology, etc.
Main theme of this tree nursery would be a sense of empowerment. According to one of the teachers at the Sulzberger Middle School, the residents of Mill Creek have called their home "The Bottom", and as long as people can remember this neighborhood has been referred to as "The Bottom".
I would like to help these students break out of this thinking by creating a place of empowerment, where they could go up to an open yet protected meeting place and learn.
A place that was out in the open, higher and protected, with a feeling of permanence.
The immediate outdoor classroom would be bermed up in the center into a mound, with gradually sloping sides. While some parts of the nursery would be ever changing, the upper part would be surrounded by a permanent planting of evergreens, or large trees.
At the top of the mound would be a permanent outdoor classroom/seating area, with a water source at it's center. This water source would have several purposes; aesthetic, cooling and calming, and serve as the head waters for an irrigation system for the rest of the nursery.
The nursery would be planted in a circular mode, and cut into quadrants. These quadrants would represent the Seasons. Each quadrant or season would have it's own character, color, and look, and would represent a learning segment for the students.
Cutting through the circular planting of trees would be pathways of mulch or bark, leading to the more permanent materials at the top.
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Field |
S&S |
Before |
B&B |
 Fence |
Mature |
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