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Solutions Center: On the right track
1 Mar, 2007 By: Hal G. Dickey Landscape ManagementYes, there really is a Chattanooga Choo Choo.
Made famous by song and the 1941 Sonja Henie movie hit, "Sun Valley Serenade," featuring the Glenn Miller Orchestra, the colorfully painted locomotive is a hit with children and favorite backdrop for photos at the Chattanooga (TN) Choo Choo Holiday Inn. It's a rare example of the engine that pulled the first train in from Chicago in 1909.
 High view of gardens with pool and sculpted hedge in foreground: To the right can be seen some of the 24 sleeping cars, while beyond the pool is the All America Rose Selection garden in which new releases are previewed each year. This is a favorite setting for weddings, receptions and other events at the Chattanooga Choo Choo Holiday Inn. |
But, equally appreciated by guests are the beautiful flowers, greenery and waterscapes that tie together the numerous features of the 24-acre site. They can thank Lori Martinez, director of grounds, for these beautiful surroundings, which prior to the opening of the hotel and resort in 1973, was the city's Terminal Station. Its elegant passenger waiting room with its large, interior dome became a grand hotel lobby while other parts of the spacious terminal building have become restaurants, bars, retail shops and a working model railway museum.
Trading in her desk job and doing a complete career changeover more than 20 years ago, Martinez says she followed her heart in selecting her life's work.
 "Before our LESCO rep recommended Embark plant growth regulator, the Dwarf Yaupon Holly hedges required at least four or five shearings in a season," says Martinez. PGR use keeps the hedges neat and trim with just two shearings during the season. |
Martinez has been managing the grounds at the Choo Choo since 1992 and knows its history. Originally, 14 sets of tracks came into the station. Eight of these were removed to create the gardens with their dozens of formal beds, gazebos, pools and fountains.
Roses have been the featured species in the beds at the Choo Choo Gardens almost the entire time since Martinez took charge of the hotel's grounds. For several years, the gardening had been contracted and the lack of adequate care was painfully visible, she says.
In '92 only four beds had roses; now there are 36 rose beds. "They looked like overgrown briar patches," recalls Martinez. She called a rosarian for advice, followed the recommendations and the roses recovered. "Soon everyone around the hotel was asking why we couldn't have more roses," she recalls. Now there are 800 roses there, and the Choo Choo is an All America Rose Selection Garden.
There are five acres of plant material on the property, almost entirely ornamentals except for small strips of tall fescue lawn in front of the Convention Center. Ornamentals around the three hotel buildings and the pools on the back of the property, such as Otto Lyken Laurels, can have an attractive "natural" appearance with only one deep pruning and one trimming each season. On the street side in front of the terminal, Ligustrum globes and hedges have always required three or four trimmings per season. "More would be better," the grounds director says, "but I'm hoping to get by with just a couple of shearings this season by using Atrimmec plant growth regulator."
Problems can arise, and this past May, thrips were going after the roses, attacking the lighter color blooms with terrific pressure. Martinez sprays them with an organic insecticide, Azatrol EC, an azadirachtin formulation. It has shown good efficacy on chewing and sucking insect pests, quickly stopping damage to foliage; yet it's noted for its low environmental impact.
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