Carowinds’ Landscaping Team Brings the Beauty of the Carolinas to Life
Ashlyn Pecchio
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Located on the state line, Carowinds exemplifies the beauty of both North Carolina and South Carolina through floral displays, and landscaped terrain. Carowinds is one of the most beautiful amusement parks in the summer with lush trees and bright flowers highlighted against the Carolina blue sky.
Carowinds’ Dedicated Landscape Associates
A landscape team of over 25 associates care for the plants and greenery across the park’s 400 acres.
The team’s responsibilities range from planting and irrigation to grass-cutting and weeding. When Carowinds is open for the season, landscapers report to work in the morning, before guests arrive, to water thousands of plants throughout the park by using water trucks. This is also when grass, bushes and hedges are cut or trimmed.
Jill Price, a landscape specialist at Carowinds, who works with the associates who specifically oversee the beautifully designed flowers beds, as well as the additional plants that complement. Although this team is year-round, they are currently busy planting new flowers and reviving the beds to prepare for Carowinds’ Opening Day on Saturday, March 12.
Inside the Carowinds Greenhouse
Keeping a 400-acre amusement park looking beautiful requires a lot of plants. Carowinds has its own greenhouse on-property, where Price and the landscape team prepare and care for plants and flowers year-round. Most of the flowers and decorative plants guests see in the park start their lives in the greenhouse.
“We grow about 85% of our summer annuals from a seed,” Price said. “More than 75,000 plants pass through the greenhouse each year.”
The greenhouse is stocked with flowers for each season. Inside are hanging baskets, budding bushes and green sprouts that fill the walls with a delightful aroma. No matter the weather outside, the greenhouse is a warm, humid sanctuary for plants of all kinds.
Selecting the Right Flowers
Growing flowers in the unpredictable Carolina weather is not easy. Price has been creating beautiful landscapes for Carowinds for more than 20 years. With her expertise, she advises home gardeners to choose their plants carefully, as this is the key to her success at the park.
“Select the right plant for the right place,” Price said. “Consider how much sun and moisture each plant needs or can tolerate before you plant it.”
Price’s team selects flowers based on what best complements each themed area of the park.
“We develop warm and cool color palettes based on what best suits the theming,” Price said. “I also like to look for fragrant varieties.”
After creating a plan, associates get to work by tilling and preparing each of the 110 flower beds throughout the park. Before Opening Day, each bed is filled with the various plants and flowers determined in the design. Once the summer operating season is complete, this process is repeated. Approximately half of the flowers must be tilled and prepared again to receive pansies and other bulbs that fare better in the colder months. This process results in approximately 80,000 seeds, bulbs and cuttings being planted at Carowinds this year.
Join the Carowinds Landscaping Team
Do you have a green thumb? If tending to the beautiful nature at Carowinds sounds like a new, fun opportunity, consider joining our team. Carowinds is accepting applications for landscapers with hourly wages starting at $15. Carowinds offers flexible schedules and many perks for its associates, including discounts, reward and recognition programs, exclusive events and free admission to any Cedar Fair park.
To apply, please visit jobs.cedarfair.com/carowinds.