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Setting The Stage

The Worlds of Discovery horticulture team knows how to make a big splash in the landscape.

By Tacy Callies
Field Editor
March 2009
[from left] Mark Russell, Chris Edson, and Kyle Davis, Worlds of Discovery
[from left] Mark Russell, Chris Edson,
and Kyle Davis, Worlds of Discovery
Photos by Tacy Callies

While plants may not be what the typical tourist remembers most about Orlando’s attractions, landscapes nevertheless play an essential role in the overall theme park experience. At Worlds of Discovery (which includes SeaWorld, Discovery Cove, and Aquatica), plants make a powerful first impression, taking center stage in lavishly landscaped entrances and helping establish themes throughout the parks. Most plants are purchased from nurseries, but 1.5 million annuals are grown in-house near the parks.

Mark Russell, Worlds of Discovery (www.worldsofdiscovery.com) director of horticulture, is responsible for managing all aspects of the three parks’ landscapes. Russell’s right-hand men are Chris Edson, manager of horticulture; and Kyle Davis, supervisor of horticulture. Together, they lead a team of 87 landscape employees. Keeping the parks’ plantings in tip-top shape is no small task. Therefore, training is top of mind for the landscape team.

Education And Certification

Horticultural team members receive intensive training on the first day of the job. Areas covered include general orientation, developmental opportunities, standards, and safety. Daily start-up meetings are held to discuss the day’s objectives. Weekly team meetings include plant education and identification as well as what is currently happening at each park.
 
Tips For Freeze
During the freezes this past winter, several strategies were used to protect the Worlds of Discovery’s tender plants. Hanging baskets and containers were moved to the greenhouse, annuals were covered with two layers of cloth, and space heaters were used to protect tropical plants.

The most important factor in freeze protection is having an organized plan in place. “Having all plant covers labeled and cut to size ahead of time will make the process go more quickly and smoothly,” says supervisor of horticulture Kyle Davis.

“One thing we have learned is that more established plants with root systems do better in a freeze than newly planted materials,” says director of horticulture Mark Russell. “We’ve also seen how tropicals under canopy fare much better than those not planted under trees.”
“We like to get the entire team involved in goal-setting,” says Russell. “When everyone has the opportunity to shape the direction, we are all more mentally involved in where we are going.”

A career-ladder program offers strong-performing employees the opportunity to receive paid training toward industry certifications in horticulture, irrigation, arboriculture, and pest control. Career-ladder advancements can lead to promotions and pay increases. Currently, about one-third of the hort team holds at least one certification, and that number is growing.

“The program gives us more knowledgeable team members who are more engaged in their career,” says Russell.

Creating Themes

A big part of what the landscape team does is establish and maintain themes in the parks’ landscapes.

“We want to have a different look or theme at each park,” says Russell.

At Aquatica, a water park that opened in 2008, the theme is all about the South Seas. In addition to Australian-named rides and characters, the park includes many plants native to Australia, New Guinea, and the Philippines. One example is the Bangalow palm, an Australian native not commonly found in Central Florida.
 
The Worlds of Discovery horticulture team turned a shrub replacement project into a shrub removal project to show off this spectacular view at Discovery Cove.
The Worlds of Discovery horticulture team
turned a shrub replacement project into a
shrub removal project to show off this
spectacular view at Discovery Cove.
“It has a green crownshaft with a tropical look, is a fast grower, likes wet soil, and held up well in the recent freezes,” says Russell.

Rainbow eucalyptus is a New Guinea native at Aquatica. “They’ve done extremely well, doubling or tripling in caliper size in just one year,” says Russell. “And they didn’t lose a single leaf in the 28°F weather.”

The landscape takes a tropical theme at Discovery Cove, an animal-encounter park where visitors can swim with dolphins, snorkel, hand-feed birds, and even take horticultural tours.

“It is our job to make Discovery Cove feel like a tropical paradise, but we are not in a tropical zone,” says Russell.

Another unique aspect of managing Discovery Cove’s landscape is working side-by-side with animals and the park’s zoological team.

“We have to coordinate with our zoological department to make sure there are no plants toxic to birds,” says Davis.

“We also have to make sure there is no spray into our water bodies from our irrigation system, so we use a Netafim soaker-type system,” says Russell.

Plantings With Punch

Creating bold statements in the landscape is one way the Worlds of Discovery hort team makes a strong first impression on visitors and helps add to their overall enjoyment of the parks.

For example, the entrance sign at Aquatica greets visitors with flashy pops of color in unexpected patterns. The swirling Aquatica logo was incorporated into the beds with lots of colorful New Guinea impatiens.
 
Nursery Needs
Before Aquatica opened last year, the Worlds of Discovery horticulture team got bids from about 40 different nurseries, and ended up purchasing from roughly half of them. Most materials, however, came from a small, select group. What does the Worlds of Discovery hort team look for in a nursery?

• Electronic Communication — “If I can email a spreadsheet with quantities and types of plants, and the grower can fill in the prices and email it back to me, that’s helpful,” says director of horticulture Mark Russell.

• Delivery Flexibility — “Growers should have the ability to adapt to schedule changes when necessary,” says supervisor of horticulture Kyle Davis.

• Clear Understanding of Expectations — “Vendors need to understand our quality standards,” says Russell. “We don’t want to be surprised, so nurseries need to let us know about any problems that arise.”

• Open-Door Policy — “We like to be able to visit the nursery and tour the facility,” says manager of horticulture Chris Edson.
“We got the idea during installation on a rainy Saturday afternoon, and it came together in about an hour and a half,” recalls Russell.

Another “wow” factor was created in the landscape at Discovery Cove when a hedge was in the process of being removed for replacement.

“Once we pulled it out, we accidentally discovered it revealed a beautiful vista of a stream leading to the park’s lazy river,” says Russell. “So we cleared out more of the hedge to show off the view.”

The most photographed horticultural element of Discovery Cove, however, is the dolphin topiaries. “People may not have any interest in plants, but they see the dolphin topiaries and get excited,” Russell says.

Make Way For Manta

One of the biggest projects the Worlds of Discovery landscapers are currently working on is the debut of the Manta rollercoaster at SeaWorld, scheduled to open this Memorial Day weekend. Since the ride covers a large portion of the park, existing landscapes will be blended with new and transplanted materials. More than 100 of the park’s mature trees were removed, root pruned, and held under drip irrigation before being relocated and reinstalled around the rollercoaster. Manta — a head-first, face-down coaster designed to make riders feel as if they are rays soaring through the water — passes by a body of water with an island.

On the island is a huge transplanted Reclinata date palm. “Its rootball was actually split in half and then put back together in the ground,” says Russell.

Other transplanted trees include a large banyan more than 40 feet tall, big bamboo clumps, tall tabebuias, and lots of oaks. Whether it’s projects like this or something on a smaller scale, it pays to have a landscape staff ready and willing to make magic happen every time.

“There’s real passion in our group,” says Edson. “They are here for a reason: This is what they want to do.”

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