HIS BACKSTORY: Derek Pearson was a groundskeeper at an agricultural college in England in the 1980s. After taking evening classes in creative gardening and countryside management, he moved to Canada and did the Master Gardener Training Program through the Faculty of Agriculture鈥檚 Extended Learning. Now he is one of four gardeners in 9 1免费版下鈥檚 Facilities Management Grounds Crew in Halifax鈥攅ach responsible for making their own part of Dal鈥檚 three Halifax campuses鈥攃omprising 79 acres, the size of around 20 city blocks鈥攂eautiful and camera-ready.
HIGHLIGHTS: For the past 11 years, Pearson has spent many of his days in the most-photographed areas on campus鈥攖he Studley Quad and Sherriff Hall (backdrop to many weddings). There he is not only responsible for the day-to-day upkeep but he鈥檚 also the creative impetus behind the look of the grounds.
Pearson says the weather, the seasons and the needs on campus dictate the kind of treatment each area gets. 鈥淥nce you get used to a place you get the feel of it. While you鈥檙e weeding, ideas pop into your head and you think that a particular area isn鈥檛 looking as good as it could be. You recognize the areas that could be improved,鈥� Pearson says. 鈥淎nd sometimes you just want to try something just for the sake of it, for the fun of it.鈥�
鈥淚t鈥檚 rewarding to see the gardens build up year on year. If you鈥檙e just going into some- one鈥檚 personal yard, you put in an installation and you never see it again. Here every year, you can see it evolving and that鈥檚 quite a nice sight.鈥�
With convocation early in spring, the team relies on perennials and bedding plants to provide pops of colour. Once that is over and the weather has turned warmer, the real creativity begins. Pearson offers the example of gardening around older structures like the Chemistry Building and the Hicks, where he goes for a cottagey look. It appears as if the gardens on either side of the main doors of both buildings are symmetrical. Look more closely, however, and you will notice slight differences to accommodate for the difference in sun and shade.
Pearson is most proud of a crevice garden now thriving with succulents outside the Chemistry Building and ground cover running from Killam Library to the Steele Ocean Science Building. 鈥淵ou just squeeze small plants in but the roots will spread out underneath and in between the rocks. It鈥檚 a really hot, sunny area but the little seedlings like the warm weather and they鈥檙e just thriving.鈥�
WHY I DO IT: 鈥淚t鈥檚 a great job if you like to be outdoors, which I do.鈥� Pearson says. 鈥淲e鈥檙e encouraged to be creative and bring ideas, and people listen to you. It鈥檚 a very supportive environment.鈥�
Even in winter when Pearson, like the rest of the grounds team, spends the majority of his time shovelling snow and chipping away at ice, the promise of another year鈥檚 growing season makes it all worthwhile.
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This story appeared in the DAL Magazine Fall 2022 issue. Flip through the rest of the Fall 2022 issue using the links below.