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Situated on 60 acres in sunny Anaheim, California Adventure gives its visitors some snapshots into the history and culture of the Golden State. The theme park just south of Disneyland, which just celebrated its 50th anniversary during the summer of 2005. But this idyllic setting doesn?EUR??,,????'???t happen by accident as a crew of 100 employees (including nine gardeners) maintains the landscape at the park. One director oversees two operations managers and six managers who maintain Sun Plaza, Hollywood, Bountiful Valley Farm, Golden State and Paradise Pier/Pacific Wharf.
?EUR??,,????'??Every rock, tree or bush is a prop,?EUR??,,????'?? said California Adventure horticulture manager John Schrimsher. ?EUR??,,????'??Nothing here is static. We move specimen trees nearly monthly. This is a fun place to work because something is always being tweaked. It?EUR??,,????'???s like maintaining a movie set. You have to be fluid and make it through every effort.?EUR??,,????'??
Arboriculture and integrated pest management are done on site. The arboriculture manager and operations manager report to the director for resort enhancement and horticulture. California Adventure has its own in house design firm for landscapes at Imagineering, located in Burbank, Calif. The operations manager collaborates with the creative team and whoever operates the business.
As part of the Disney Resort, California Adventure sometimes shares its landscape crew with Disneyland, Downtown Disney and Disneyland Hotel. The entire resort has 17,000 trees with more that 1 million annuals planted yearly.
Depending on the promotion, one park may borrow flex labor from another park. Five workers trim trees at California Adventure, which also has two pipe fitters for irrigation. They found that drip irrigation works at the park only in special circumstances, like for pine trees. Sprinkler nozzles come in 90, 120, 180 or 270 degree patterns with strip sprays used for narrow areas in planters. Typically the output is about three gallons per minute. The park has a watering window between 2 and 6 a.m., so the custodial department doesn?EUR??,,????'???t have to deal with cleaning up wet areas.
All the rotors and sprinklers at California Adventure are automated through an irrigation controller, Maxicom. A weather station on site takes evapotranspiration rate readings, which is tied into the irrigation schedule. Schrimsher said the plant materials have a wide range of watering requirements, based on ET rates.
?EUR??,,????'??Weather has a huge impact on business,?EUR??,,????'?? said Schrimsher. ?EUR??,,????'??Wind affects the arborist team for taking care of tree limbs that have broken. There?EUR??,,????'???s always someone on site for integrated pest management. If something big can happen, we need someone there to take care of it. Whatever work needs to get done, we?EUR??,,????'???ve gone to clean up after it. Custodial can be called up, if needed.?EUR??,,????'??
One full time worker deals with different aspects of integrated pest management from weed abatement to insect control. The program is set up to make the least impact on the environment, said Schrimsher. Each week beneficial insects are released inside the park, such as green lace wings, whose adults find their prey and legs eggs next to them. If the population of insects spikes, then a soap or oil can be sprayed to control the numbers. In a worst case scenario pesticide can be used.
For other pests such as possums or crows, Orange County Vector Control traps the animals and releases them offsite. Up to 500 or 600 crows and pigeons fly into the park in the early morning. They can be scared to fly off the property with loud sounds or pyrotechnics.
?EUR??,,????'??We try to balance what we want for the unnatural and unprotected conditions,?EUR??,,????'?? said Schrimsher. ?EUR??,,????'??We run a preventative control program. Although we have a yearly maintenance schedule, the show comes first. For us, Christmas starts on Nov. 1 by planting 45,000 poinsettias over the resort. Our goal is to keep them vibrant through Christmas.?EUR??,,????'??
Just before the New Year the landscape crew jump started the early spring show by planting tulips. By springtime pansies and snapdragons found their place at California Adventure. For Independence Day the colors of the flag?EUR??,,????'??+red, white and blue?EUR??,,????'??+are reflected with petunias, azaretums and lizianthus. In the fall warmer colors are planted such as red, gold or yellow chrysanthemums. Move the clock forward to winter and the landscape crew plants winter pansies and violas.
?EUR??,,????'??At California Adventure, we?EUR??,,????'???re constantly planting,?EUR??,,????'?? said Schrimsher. ?EUR??,,????'??We have an intensive maintenance environment, but it?EUR??,,????'???s just the nature of the business. We buy our plant materials from over 60 nurseries. We get a lot of diversity from Oregon, Washington, Arizona and New Mexico, but the vast majority comes from California.?EUR??,,????'??
A satellite nursery has been set up for the entire Disney Resort with a backstage area set up to receive that day?EUR??,,????'???s set of trees, bushes, shrubs and flowers. Sod is purchased by the palette. Schrimsher said the goal is to receive the plant materials the day before they?EUR??,,????'???re scheduled to be planted.
Because California Adventure opens for visitors at 10 a.m. daily, the landscape crew works shifts of 2 to 10:30 a.m., seven days per week. Crews work with pick up trucks, Club golf carts and utility beds with dumps. Schrimsher said one of the biggest challenges in maintaining a theme park is the limited amount of hours the crew can work, especially when guest pick at bushes or flowers.
At Bug?EUR??,,????'???s Life, Bamboo Oldhaamii represents grass. At maturity it is thinned out and manageable. Schrimsher said he likes for his crew to keep it trimmed as much as possible. Caterpillar is a corporate ally of Bountiful Valley Farm, which presents Bug?EUR??,,????'???s Life. Francis the Lady Bug has his spots which represent a lady bug?EUR??,,????'???s spots with beds of red begonias and white saved alyssum. Iceland poppies play off the panels of Electra. Also in Bug?EUR??,,????'???s Life, the Magician works his magic to make it ripple the landscape through his powers with succulents.
Diachondra is changed four times per year and trimmed every six weeks with line trimmers as part of Spider Web. At Bug?EUR??,,????'???s Life the hardscape was set to scale to appear like grains of sand or pebbles, from an insect?EUR??,,????'???s perspective.
For the small patches of turf tall fescue a 21-inch Toro or Honda push mower is used weekly during the summer months. Soil is tested twice per year and organic materials are added, as needed. Schrimsher said redwood compost, gypsum or minerals can be added back to the soil.
?EUR??,,????'??There?EUR??,,????'???s such a broad spectrum of fertilizers,?EUR??,,????'?? said Schrimsher. ?EUR??,,????'??We test the turf?EUR??,,????'???s soil and apply fertilizers that meet our needs. We use a redwood mulch where it helps with weed abatement and also hold in moisture.?EUR??,,????'??
?EUR??,,????'??This is a fun place to work because something is always being tweaked. It?EUR??,,????'???s like maintaining a movie set. You have to be fluid and make it through every effort.?EUR??,,????'???EUR??,,????'??+California Adventure horticulture manager John Schrimsher
For the planters overhead irrigation is used. Detail work such as pruning bushes, is done at the end of the work day. This effort is coordinated with the custodial team, which comes behind the landscape crew and hoses down the hardscape.
In order to trim the Washingtonia Robusta or Mexican Fan Palms, a man lift or bucket truck is used. Schrimsher said California Adventure uses its own in-house maintenance crew in order to keep the quality they want. A hand saw or chain saw can be used to cut palm fronds.
?EUR??,,????'??The advantage we have is the flexibility to man the staff,?EUR??,,????'?? said Schrimsher. ?EUR??,,????'??We want to have the top quality as possible. We have the budget so we can keep up with the high expectations placed on us and use the corresponding resources. Guests expect perfection. They want the park to be clean and safe, so we need to maintain that level. From a horticulturist?EUR??,,????'???s point of view, our resort is known for its color-theming and topiary.?EUR??,,????'??
The newest attraction at California Adventure, Monsters Inc., just opened up this past summer. Landscape architects at Imagineering designed railings, seat walls, fountain and hardscape. A general contractor hired subcontractors to do construction. California Adventure?EUR??,,????'???s crew installed the hardscape.
Equipment used in the park includes mowers, edgers, line trimmers, hedge trimmers, leaf blowers, sod cutters, a skid steer loader and Kubota tractor.
Around the California craftsman style Grand California Hotel sits in a meadow that appears to be unmaintained. One type of tree may be maintained while another is allowed to leaf out. Redwoods, like eucalyptus, need to develop as if in a grove, said Schrimsher. Even though specimen trees are moved from part of the park to the other, none perish due to the move.
?EUR??,,????'??Some trees are more successful to transplant than others,?EUR??,,????'?? said Schrimsher.
?EUR??,,????'??The trees are like people. The younger ones seem to be able to adapt better to a new environment. Sometimes we put the tree into a box and adapt to a new location.?EUR??,,????'??
Raleigh, North Carolina
Francisco Uviña, University of New Mexico
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Ash Nochian, Ph.D. Landscape Architect
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