This past summer, Hannah Yovino of Tenants Harbor, Maine, took her passion for horticulture to Washington, D.C., where she did an internship at the National Arboretum. The University of Maine senior is majoring in environmental horticulture with a concentration in landscape design. She plans to go on to grad school and have a career in sustainable design.

Tell us about your internship at the 446-acre National Arboretum in Washington, D.C.
I started my internship in the Gotelli Dwarf and Slow-Growing Conifer Collection at the National Arboretum in late May and went through mid-August. In the collection I did a lot of typical maintenance like weeding and pruning, plus lots and lots of watering. I was also involved in propagating some of the conifers. The arboretum is constantly changing. I helped with some of the inventory of the collection to allow it to be completely accurate and current in its signage.

How did the experience inform your perspective on horticulture?
Before my internship, I only had experienced landscaping and your typical gardening. I wanted to learn more about plants, especially those not typically found in New England.

How did your UMaine training prepare you for the internship?
Before the internship I was a little nervous because I didn’t know how I would stack up to the other interns. I was pleasantly surprised with how much I knew from the courses I have taken at UMaine.

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