Horticulture and Landscape Internship (Lyndhurst)

Overview

PROJECT SUMMARY

Lyndhurst’s summer 2025 internship program will be in the field of horticulture/cultural landscape preservation. As an in-person program, it will provide a unique opportunity for an intern to engage in hands-on learning and team collaboration at a National Historic Landmark property. The focus will be on Lyndhurst’s collection of specimen trees, greenhouse environs, and the rose garden, which will undergo significant restoration over the next few years. Under the guidance of the Curator of Historic Landscapes, the Horticulture and Landscape intern will make valuable contributions to the preservation and restoration of the Lyndhurst landscape via a combination of research, design, and hands-on horticulture skills.

A month into the program, two French horticultural interns, via the French Heritage Society, will join the program, creating a unique opportunity for international collaboration and skill-sharing.

National Trust internships are temporary experiential learning opportunities with no expectation of employment at the conclusion of the internship.

For this internship, the National Trust is offering a stipend of $4,000 to help offset expenses. The period of the internship will be from June 2nd-July 25th, for approximately 28 hours per week. This is an in-person internship on site at Lyndhurst in Tarrytown, NY. Lodging will be provided.

DUTIES

• Research/Restoration: Support the restoration of Lyndhurst’s rose garden via plant identification and research. Work with the horticulture director and volunteers to identify the 250 roses in Lyndhurst’s rose collection, first established by Helen Gould Shepard in the early 20th century. Record plant characteristics, habits, and care needs, and photograph blooms. Determine what roses are missing from the master plan and whether they can be returned in a changing environment. Use archival materials to help identify the historic perennials that once appeared in the garden, to support upcoming restoration work.
• Preservation: Help update Lyndhurst’s tree site map. Explore the grounds of the 67-acre estate to assess what trees are missing since the tree map was last updated in 2011. Get to know Lyndhurst’s vast specimen tree collection and contribute input on what should, and can, be replanted and where amid environmental changes. Contribute to the preservation of historic specimen trees by assessing which trees most urgently need protection from human interaction/equipment. Explore the steps it would take for Lyndhurst to become an accredited arboretum.
• Horticulture: Use hands-on, practical horticultural skills, such as the science of hand pruning, to help preserve and care for Lyndhurst’s living collection, including flowering shrubs, rock gardens, and seasonal container plantings. Learn the fine art of rose pruning under the guidance of a rosarian. Support the fern garden volunteers as they work to restore one of the most extensive collections of hardy ferns in New York State. Collaborate with seasonal volunteers to identify and combat invasive plant species that threaten the health of historic plantings.
• Design: Utilize archival photographs and film, maps, and an extensive landscape history report to determine what shrubs, trees, and perennials once appeared on the lawns of the greenhouse built for Gilded Age rail baron Jay Gould and once the largest private greenhouse in America. Create a design to include accent plants with strong architectural interest that may be returned to the greenhouse lawns and balance historic design with sustainable, low-maintenance care needs.

EDUCATIONAL VALUE TO THE INTERN

The intern will gain experience under the mentorship of respected preservation and museum professionals, in an educational setting at one of the nation’s premier historic house/landscape museums. The intern will have the opportunity to participate in educational programming offered via the National Trust for Historic Preservation’s organization-wide internship program. Students may also be eligible for college or graduate school academic credit at the discretion of their institution.

Specifically, the intern will gain knowledge in the following areas:

• Preservation of cultural landscapes via the identification of historic plant species and the invasives that threaten them.
• A strong awareness of American landscape design history of the 19th and 20th centuries and beyond.
• Landscape design that balances historic design with forward-thinking, sustainable landscaping practices amid environmental changes.

At the end of the project, the intern will have produced a plan or drawing, illustrating how Lyndhurst’s greenhouse gardens appeared at a certain point in history and including plantings that may be returned to the site amid upcoming restoration work. Such documents can be added to their professional portfolio in

support of their future career pursuits.

QUALIFICATIONS

• Horticultural, landscape design, and research skills.
• The program will run Monday-Friday from 9:30am-3:30pm (with an hour lunch break) and include occasional field trips on Fridays to local historic gardens/sites.
• Basic analytical and problem-solving skills, including issue identification and prioritization. Basic project-organization skills.
• Excellent attention to detail.
• Ability to collaborate and achieve results with supervision, including ability to interact professionally with key internal and external stakeholders as needed. Public contact and ability to work successfully in close proximity to others required.
• Strong organizational skills required, with ability to prioritize and multi -task efficiently.
• Strong verbal and written communication skills.
• Ability to work effectively with culturally diverse colleagues; connections to or experience helping to engage culturally diverse audiences and partners a plus.
• Proficiency with Microsoft Office products required, including Outlook, Word and Excel. Familiarity with other software (like CAD) a plus.
• Bachelor’s level studies (or equivalent years of experience) required; current or rising juniors, seniors or graduate students preferred. Studies, or demonstrated interest in related subject matter, preferred (horticulture/landscape design/landscape preservation).

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