Pinecrest plant expert keeps storms in mind

Deck

The village horticulturist has his hands full with Pinecrest Gardens, a lush city park hit hard by last year’s hurricanes.

BY KATHLEEN FORDYCE [email protected]

Craig Morell is a self-proclaimed plant addict.

So when he got the job as Pinecrest’s horticulturist two years ago and was put in charge of 22 acres of dense jungle at Pinecrest Gardens, he was in heaven.

“It’s like giving a chocoholic his own chocolate factory,” he said.

Morell, 46, said his obsession began before he was old enough to drive. At 10, he began caring for his mother’s garden in Milwaukee. Later he graduated to cultivating orchids. By then, he was hooked.

Since arriving at Pinecrest Gardens, home of the former Parrot Jungle, Morell has been busy dealing with damage left by hurricanes Katrina and Wilma.

“Wilma finished off what Katrina” started, he said while walking the gardens.

Before the hurricanes, the gardens were known for their dense tree canopy and heavy brush that kept many of the walkways dark. Now, many of the walkways offer a clear, open view of the sky.

The park was closed for three weeks after Katrina and a week after Wilma.

While much of the debris has been removed, damaged plants don’t recover that quickly and their growth could be affected for the long term, he said.

“We are still cleaning up from Katrina and probably will be for years,” he said.

Considering the predictions of busy hurricane seasons for the foreseeable future, Morell is wary about his planting choices now.

“It radically alters how you plant,” he said. “But then again, you also can’t live in fear for the rest of your life.”

Other challenges at the gardens include dealing with many weed species that grow at exponential speeds and figuring out the outdated manual sprinkler system that was used by the Parrot Jungle.

“It’s a process of discovery, finding the irrigation system, and some of it has the most fascinating construction,” he laughed.

The park now boasts more than 600 plant species and an unspecified number of hybrids. Morell has not had time to identify them all yet.

To help diversify the garden’s collection, he donated 2,000 of his own orchids and tropical plants.

Morell earned a horticulture degree at the University of Florida in 1988. Before working for Pinecrest, he spent 10 years as the horticulturist for the Boca Raton Resort. He now lives in South Miami.

He said he carries his work home everyday, thinking, talking and dreaming about plants. He enjoys reading botanical journals and visiting gardens with rare plant collections.

Even when his friends tried to break his plant addiction and suggested scuba diving, he still had greenery on his mind.

“I said, ‘Sure, there are plants underwater,’ ” he said.