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The workers in this highly-secure garden are prison inmates at New York City?EUR??,,????'?????<Wall Street Journal?EUR??,,????'?????< Jane Garmey was recently shown around by James Jiler, director of the GreenHouse Project at Rikers and author of ?EUR??,,????'?????< Like most gardeners, Mr. Jiler wants to show me everything?EUR??,,????'?????< In summer, Mr. Jiler worries about how the plants survive hot weekends when no one is around to water them, and in winter he frets that intense fluctuations in temperature will wreak havoc on his germinating seeds. But one problem he does not have is lack of help! Five days a week, as many as 25 inmates (15 women and 10 men), working on separate shifts, spend up to seven hours a day in the garden, where they prune, weed, hoe, plant, harvest, and help care for the animals. They also repair to a large brick building that serves as a classroom. Here they learn about science, botany, horticultural terms and techniques, nutrition and herbs, and take a series of tests before completing the program. The recidivism rate of those in the program is 15% as compared to 65% of the general inmate population.
The workers in this highly-secure garden are prison inmates at New York City?EUR??,,????'?????<Wall Street Journal?EUR??,,????'?????< Jane Garmey was recently shown around by James Jiler, director of the GreenHouse Project at Rikers and author of ?EUR??,,????'?????<
Like most gardeners, Mr. Jiler wants to show me everything?EUR??,,????'?????<
In summer, Mr. Jiler worries about how the plants survive hot weekends when no one is around to water them, and in winter he frets that intense fluctuations in temperature will wreak havoc on his germinating seeds. But one problem he does not have is lack of help! Five days a week, as many as 25 inmates (15 women and 10 men), working on separate shifts, spend up to seven hours a day in the garden, where they prune, weed, hoe, plant, harvest, and help care for the animals. They also repair to a large brick building that serves as a classroom. Here they learn about science, botany, horticultural terms and techniques, nutrition and herbs, and take a series of tests before completing the program. The recidivism rate of those in the program is 15% as compared to 65% of the general inmate population.
Today, the Department of Correction makes available the two-acre outdoor space with its greenhouse and classroom building, covers the salaries of two corrections officers assigned to the garden, and provides transportation for the inmate participants who are housed in several different buildings on Rikers. The program, which costs less than $250,000 a year, is run by the Horticultural Society of New York, which is responsible for finding the funding, provided by a variety of foundations and individuals. Participants are recruited from inmates serving sentences of up to a year and must spend at least three to five months in the program. If they find they like working with plants, they are given the chance when they leave jail to take up paid internships in GreenTeam, a sister program also run by the Horticultural Society, where they receive further horticultural training and are helped to find full- time jobs in the field. There have been 330 graduates since the program began and of these 68 have received permanent horticulture-related jobs. More on the program: www.hsny.org Source: Wall Street Journal
Today, the Department of Correction makes available the two-acre outdoor space with its greenhouse and classroom building, covers the salaries of two corrections officers assigned to the garden, and provides transportation for the inmate participants who are housed in several different buildings on Rikers. The program, which costs less than $250,000 a year, is run by the Horticultural Society of New York, which is responsible for finding the funding, provided by a variety of foundations and individuals.
Participants are recruited from inmates serving sentences of up to a year and must spend at least three to five months in the program. If they find they like working with plants, they are given the chance when they leave jail to take up paid internships in GreenTeam, a sister program also run by the Horticultural Society, where they receive further horticultural training and are helped to find full- time jobs in the field. There have been 330 graduates since the program began and of these 68 have received permanent horticulture-related jobs.
More on the program: www.hsny.org
Source: Wall Street Journal
Francisco Uviña, University of New Mexico
Hardscape Oasis in Litchfield Park
Ash Nochian, Ph.D. Landscape Architect
November 12th, 2025
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