Meet The Gardener: Chantal
In my interview with Tom Brown back in June 2019, I remember saying how I was a ‘Jack of all trades’, I think I can safely say I’ve delivered on this statement, but the clincher of my interview was probably when I caught a loose sheep and tucked it under one arm!
I am often spotted on a machine, flying around trying to do ten jobs at once. Most recently, I have spent a good portion of the last two weeks up a cherry picker, getting some of the larger topiary into shape. My passion for nature, machinery, the outdoors, and busy-paced, productive days have brought me into the world of horticulture as a career. Starting in September 2019 as a trainee, thankfully being kept on as a full-time Gardener and progressing first to Senior Gardener and now to Gardens Supervisor.
Do not be fooled, though. I also really enjoy the big winter prune of the pergola. Swapping hedge cutters and chainsaws for secateurs and snips, doing battle with the rose thorns, long whips of wisteria, and sprawling grape vines, it’s therapeutic, restoring shape and order to the climbers and challenging a different set of skills.
A large majority of my time is spent working with our wonderful team of volunteers, of which there are over fifty. They are a great force that I lead across the grounds of the College. Sweeping through large beds, weeding, cutting back herbaceous, edging and mulching, I would be lost without them.
More recently I have also started posting on the Garden’s social media, hoping to capture more of a Gardener’s view of the work, landscape and most importantly, the plants. I like to show progress on the recent projects we have completed in the Gardens. I also enjoy working on such projects as I usually get to put my digger skills into practice, as well as really getting to know the plants by being there from their ‘birth’. It has been an exciting time to join West Dean under Head Gardener, Tom Brown, he has created some wonderful planting schemes, with his wealth of knowledge he is great to learn from.
Winter can be seen as a slower season, but it is ever-relenting here in the West Dean Gardens. For me, the race is on to cut the topiary before the start of nesting season at the end of February, there is also hazel to coppice from the estate, using it for obelisks and plant supports in beds across the site. Not forgetting the winter pruning and mulching, it is a juggling act, but I enjoy the variety it offers, and it brings into play my planning skills with maximum efficiency levels. We are a small team of Gardeners, but I like to bolster spirits by regularly baking cakes and making bad jokes.
Throughout the ever-changing climate with very wet, windy weather to extremely hot dry days, seemingly a constant battle, there is never a dull moment, and I love it.
Chantal Sparrow, Gardens Supervisor, January 2025