Succession plans are often not highly prioritized in public gardens due to limitations such as time and available manpower resources. Furthermore, when succession plans have been implemented, tend to cater to top management such as executive directors. Mid management directors are seldom mentioned in the succession planning process. In the same vein, preserving talent within the organization is equally important. Training a skilled horticulturist takes years of effort and investment of resources, motivating and retaining this talent is important for the success of public gardens. The objective of this manuscript is focused on understanding the potential of succession plans for mid management directors and talent retention of specialist horticulturists. The results revealed that all gardens felt that succession plans were important. While not every garden had formal succession plans, the other interviewed gardens had informal succession plans that they utilized to plan their staffing needs of all levels for the short and long term. There is a growing potential for the use of AI in succession plans through the transfer of institutional knowledge.