As I thought about my upcoming retirement, I felt it might be fun trying to recreate the Alumni House’s “English” garden. Although I had no first-hand knowledge or training in caring for such a garden, I had several decades of experience as a vegetable gardener, and I have always enjoyed working outside, getting my hands dirty. In a long memo to President McInally, I proposed the college create a new position–Alumni House gardener–and that I be appointed to fill the position. Included in the memo were my thoughts on status of the current garden (e.g., dilapidated pergola and fence, no garden shed or equipment, soil/drainage problems, etc) and some observations on how to address some of those problems. I did try to suggest how I envisioned the possible renovation of this English/Midwest garden--and I did request a modest salary, well within the existing garden budget. In March, the President approved my proposal, and in April I received a garden gate key.
For that first summer, I introduced only a small number of new plants–such as some Asian lilies and Karl Foerster feather reed grass--but most of my efforts concentrated on removing excess vegetation (for example, digging up dozens of asters, goldenrod, thistles, and swamp milkweed), bringing together some desirable plants into a common bedding areas (most notably reorganizing clumps of daisies and cranesbill), and improving the soil (for example, bringing in 24 yards of organic mulch, all transported by my 1988 Chevy S-10 pickup). In October and November we planted a thousand spring-flowering bulbs: several daffodil cultivars, crocus, tulips, grape hyacinths, and anemones. And then we waited for the spring.