If you’ve ever stepped foot on our Wychfield site, you are sure to have seen Head Gardener, Sam Hartley, and her team tending to the flower beds and lawns. Joining originally as maternity cover, Sam now celebrates her 10-year College anniversary with us as the head of the department.
After 13 years working in NHS administration, Sam decided to swap the office for the outdoors and re-train in her passion of gardening. Since then, she has worked in some of the prettiest gardens in the UK and now leads a team of ten employees as Head Gardener at Trinity Hall, working tirelessly to ensure the gardens are a haven for every resident and visitor at College. Sam’s motivation? A genuine love for being outdoors in nature.
“I enjoy making the gardens the best they can be, and that I can be creative and get my hands dirty. Every gardener enjoys completing a task and seeing how amazing it looks! We’re sticklers [as a team] but we enjoy it because we’re proud of what we produce.”
During Sam’s 10 years of service, College has changed significantly with the construction of both WYNG Gardens and the WongAvery Music Gallery. However, the day-to-day routine of caring for the grounds has stayed relatively similar.
“I’m a bit of a traditionalist I must admit. I enjoy the permanence of this place, and the thing is that it was so well looked after before I took on the senior role, I didn’t feel the need to change very much. In terms of how it is to work here, there is a great feeling of community and support.”
Sam’s favourite changes have been to the plants in the beds outside the Old Library, which she redesigned to bloom beautifully with rich colour in the summer.
“I really do love the Old Library bed. It’s green, bright with vibrant colours, and it’s way over the top. I’ve also redesigned the big sunny bed in the Fellows’ Garden to include more plants for pollinators and other wildlife, so that’s also been fun to do.”
The daily routine of the gardens involves what Sam would classify as “less glamourous” jobs but there are some seasonal jobs that come as a surprise even to Sam, including taxiing large fibre glass mushrooms for the June Event, or tending to the river wall as shown in the picture above.
“We used to prune the Valerian growing out of the river wall on a punt, which was always a lot of fun as you can imagine. It led to many a thing having to be recovered from the river. In fact, I know that there’s a very nice pruning knife of mine in there somewhere.”
Sam and her team play a pivotal part in progressing Trinity Hall’s sustainability ambitions. They cultivate landscaping to increase biodiversity, utilise water harvesting, and develop many other sustainability initiatives, such as creating green roofs at WYNG Gardens. At Wychfield, thick undergrowth in the wooded area provides habitat for the foxes and mixed native hedging makes excellent nesting sites for birds.
“Nothing goes off-site except one green bin a fortnight filled with harmful weeds that we don’t want to reproduce in the garden. We shred anything woody to make wood chip for the paths and all the other materials go into compost, meaning almost everything gets used in one way or another.”
The beauty of the gardens all year round is a testament to Sam and her team’s incredible work and their continued effort to make the gardens the best they can be.
“Every week there’s something different that you think ‘Oh, look at that’ and when you take out your camera to photograph it, you’ll find that the same plant caught your eye last year as well. It’s a simple reminder of the changing seasons and that there’s always something to look at and appreciate. I’m motivated by knowing that we contribute to the growth of the students and the College.”
On Sunday 13 April, the Wychfield Site Gardens will be open for visitors from 11am to 2pm as part of the National Garden Scheme. It is the perfect time to invite your friends, family and loved ones to see the gardens firsthand. Tickets are available online and on the door.
Current students and Fellows can also volunteer in the Wychfield gardens with Sam every Wednesday from 1.45pm to 3pm and help the team to keep the gardens in tip-top condition. From pruning to tending to the vegetable patch, it is a low-commitment activity that helps you get outside and take a break from your everyday routine.