So far, we have discussed Emma Marris’s Rambunctious Garden extensively, a book that criticizes old-fashioned efforts of conservation and considers a new image of nature, existing in our very own backyards, from rural to urban places. Additionally, as background for this assignment, we read Richard Stalter’s The flora on the High Line, a piece that aims to “document the licens, bryophytes and vascular plants present at the High Line” by listing data sets on the different species that exist on the High Line (389). My visit to the High Line confirmed much of what Stalter said in terms of the species diversity at the High Line, and it supported Marris’s concept of a rambunctious garden, although not entirely.
Small Bird by 14th St
Pollinators such as birds and honey bees were present along with a diverse population of plants throughout the High Line. Colors and variations of the plants had a wide range, from grasslands full of red forbs to tall, ordinarily colored thickets full of shrubs. This follows in line with what Stalter calls the two main “plant communities exist[ing] on the High Line, the forb/grassland community and successional thicket community” (389).
Forbs in Grassland Sections
In the second picture, you can see the dominance of two types of forb sections adjacent to one another. This diversity is found throughout the High Line, as is shown in the other pictures shown here. Also, the presence of shrub and grassland communities side-by-side in some places verifies Stalter when he says that shurbs were “components of both the forb/grassland and…thicket communities described above” (389).
Diverse Flora around 28th St
The High Line’s species richness is due to humans, who have “probably inadvertently transported seeds to the site, a source of new species,” according to Stalter. This would also probably fall in line with Marris’s rambunctious garden, which certainly emphasizes human involvement in nature and a history of invasive, nonnative species all around the world.
More Diversity around 28th St
However, the “selective maintenance to arrest plant succession [that] will be needed to maintain and preserve the present assemblage of vascular plant species” that Stalter describes is too similar to the ironic controlled wildernesses that Marris encounters and highlights in a negative light in her book (388). Yet, does this maintenance and conservation relate to the idea of pristine nature that Marris uses so heavily as a point of criticism? It certainly could, but the High Line is half wilderness and half for tourists, like Yellowstone Park – I don’t think Marris would completely support the High Line’s existence.
The walkway for the High Line, surrounded by thickets and flora
The High Line was essentially abandoned and left to various species to colonize the area and form communities successively; and now, it is a popular tourist destination and place of “natural beauty” for all New Yorkers to freely enjoy, surrounded by condominiums and construction. Even if Marris thinks that the natural beauty of a place like this is a flawed, politically correct image, I can’t help but think instinctually that the High Line should be conserved for exactly that.
