Labor in the Landscape

MHG Meetings

Sponsored By: Metro Hort Group

Labor in the Landscape

Panelists: Bella Ciabattoni, Rosemarie Miner, Michael Ng
Moderator: Toshi Yano

Program Description:
How does an industry based on gardens and gardening value actual gardeners? As we fight for green spaces to be taken more seriously, how are we valuing the skilled laborers who maintain them? As gardeners, how do we balance personal passion with the practical need for fair compensation and sustainable working conditions? As horticulture professionals, what is our role in advocating for systemic changes in how our work is valued by the public and by funders? And as business owners and leaders, how can we improve working conditions to support the long-term health of horticulturists and the horticulture industry?

Join us for what is sure to be a passionate panel discussion featuring Bella Ciabbatoni, Deputy Director of Horticulture at Brooklyn Bridge Park, Rosemarie Miner, owner of design-build-maintain firm Our Temenos, Michael Ng, Manager of Arboretum and Grounds at the New York Botanical Garden and former union representative for DC17, Local 374, and Toshi Yano, a Metro Hort Group Director.

Tuesday, March 18, 2025
The Central Park Arsenal
Fifth Avenue and 64th Street
Third floor: The Arsenal Gallery

Doors open for refreshments at 6:00 pm
Meeting begins promptly at 6:30 pm
General meetings are free to Metro Hort members. No reservations are necessary.
Guests are welcome to attend for a $20 contribution.

MEET THE PANELISTS

Bella Ciabattoni

Bella is a horticulturist, naturalist, and landscape manager currently working at Brooklyn Bridge Park as Deputy Director of Horticulture. She began her time there as a lead gardener on Pier 6, where she played a key role in developing and solidifying the park’s ecology-focused meadow management practices. Before horticulture, she worked across the Northeast with the National Park Service, endeavoring to reduce habitat degradation caused by large scale invasive plant populations in natural landmarks. She's worked in a variety of settings; wild, urban, and greenroof landscapes - in a variety of organization types including local municipal, federal, and private. She holds a degree in Environmental

Rosemarie Miner

Rosemarie is a green infrastructure professional with more than 12 years of experience in nature-based solutions to climate change. Her goal is for our organization, Our Temenos, to reflect a commitment to a livable future. As an artistic praxis, she works with nature to create living murals, as well as functional ecosystems, designing with spirits of place and for the generations to come. Her designs focus on blending the boundaries between human and non-human communities.

As the founder of a certified WBE and values driven landscaping business, she also aims to improve working conditions and evolve workers’ rights across the industry.

Drawing on her history as a community organizer, Rosemarie works tirelessly to build environmental and social resilience by facilitating ecological intimacy and fostering ecological literacy. In 2012, she served as AmeriCorps, working in community gardens across the five boroughs. In her tenure with the New York Restoration Project she worked on several facets of the Million TreesNYC Initiative.

She was the first Organizing Fellow with 596 Acres, working to increase public access to vacant green space across Brooklyn.

Rosemarie enjoys community theater, dancing, playing with mud and clay, cooking from nose to tail and a good book. She is known to burst into spontaneous bouts of song.

Michael Ng

Michael Ng has worked for 4 years at the New York Botanical Garden as the Manager of Arboretum & Grounds. He manages a crew of 25 professional gardeners that care for the turf, trees, and shrubs across the Garden’s historic landscape. Prior to holding the manager title, Michael served for 14 years at the same institution as a Gardener and union representative for the members of DC 17, Local 374. Michael lives in Woodside, Queens with his wife and seven children.

Toshi Yano

Toshi is a Director of Metro Hort Group and a Director at Large at the American Public Gardens Association. He has previously worked in the horticulture industry as a gardener, a horticulture manager, a director of horticulture, and an executive director.