Horticulturalist Jaimie Liebman’s years are ruled by the seasons, but her days are ruled by the temperature— especially during the summer months.

Every morning, Liebman and her team of one full-time gardener and two seasonal gardeners gathers at 6:30 a.m. to collect their tools and get to work. It’s a race against the sun in the open areas of the 70 acres they work in Forest Park’s Zone 1, which includes the heavily trafficked areas around the Dennis & Judith Jones Visitor and Education Center, Dwight D. Davis Tennis Center and Missouri History Museum.

“We definitely try to do as much as we can in the sunnier areas in the morning,” Liebman says. “Then we can move to shadier areas in the afternoon.”

The morning work often includes sites like the formal plantings at the entrance to the Visitor Center, which needs full sun to thrive.

“With the formal beds, the goal is to sustain their beauty and keep them looking as nice as possible. We want visitors to enjoy them throughout the season,” she explains. “That involves a lot of watering, deadheading, and weeding.”

In the afternoon, attention turns more to wooded areas and cleaning up tree rings, the beds of mulch beneath individual trees that must be kept free of weeds.

But no matter where the team works, the need for maintenance and watering is endless, and it requires coordinating with the St. Louis City Department of Parks, Recreation and Forestry’s mowing crew throughout the day.

“We have easy access through in-person conversations out in the field,” Liebman says. “They happen if a need or concern arises. It’s a good partnership.”

At the end of the day, the team gathers to debrief and plan the next day’s work. All of their projects are based on a bigger plan developed at the end of the preceding week. And soon, the weather will get cooler and they will start working together to plan the following year’s plantings.

“We begin spring and summer designs for next year at the end of the summer and into the fall, ” she says. “Our goal is to balance contrast, color, and texture using plant varieties that will bloom throughout the year.”

It is rewarding work, especially as the beds change, mature and build on each other. For example, the current flower bed at the Visitor Center was redone in 2017 using as many perennials as possible. Example of perennials found in the beds are Queen Victorias, coneflowers and gauras. Now, that hard work a few years ago is paying off, the beds are highly praised by Park visitors. One visitor said on Facebook:

Such a pretty entrance — all year long. A really nice, high-profile showcase of how a native plant landscape design looks different (but still beautiful) 365 days a year.

“I love that I get to be a part of something bigger than myself, Liebman says. “I enjoy making something beautiful for others to enjoy.”

Liebman jokes that as an introvert, she also enjoys working with plants because “they don’t talk back,” but she isn’t shy about interacting with visitors.

“We get a lot of question in the field, ranging from ‘Where’s the Zoo’ to ‘How do I get to the other side of the Park,’” she says. “And of course we get a lot of great comments about the beds we maintain.”

One of Liebman’s other passions is seeing all the pollinators throughout the day — the hummingbirds, bees, insects, moths and even the occasional praying mantis that visit the plantings.

“Pollinators are my favorite!” says Liebman, who earned her degree in plant science at Missouri State University in Springfield. She started at Forest Park Forever in May 2014 before she graduated. She completed her coursework online. Now, the Russelville, Missouri, native is thriving in St. Louis along with the plants she lovingly tends.

“I really enjoy living in St. Louis,” she says. “It was an adjustment coming from a much smaller town, but I love having access to so many great amenities. And, of course, I love Forest Park!”

Join us in celebrating parks and recreation professionals like Jaimie during Parks and Recreation Month in July by sending them a note of thanks.