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Ton Werensteijn has worked at the Botanical Gardens for 50 years. Not much has changed in that time, he says. “We’ve added more machines. And people aren’t as skilled as they used to be. Before, you were trained as an all-rounder, but the guys are much more specialised these days.” Ton will retire at the end of the month.

He began working at the Botanical Gardens in Sandwijck when he was 15 “It was on-the-job training: we didn’t have to write reports, just work with our hands. I did that until my final exams. I thought that I’d be going on holiday, but then they called and asked if I wanted to come and work at the Uithof. I’ve never had to write a job application in my life” .

Science Park

De Uithof – now Utrecht Science Park –  and the gardens looked quite a bit different 50 years ago. “It was just the fort with a big vacant lot around it, and a few buildings. The Kruyt building was still under construction. The rock garden was too, and they’d begun laying out the experimental fields with sedum, mouse-ear hawkweed, bellflower and campion. The old director’s sheep grazed around the rest of the fort to keep the grass short, together with a mule and a goat”, Ton reminisces. “I can’t even count how many times I’ve taken the Weg tot de Wetenschap to get to work, but I never earned a degree.”

There’s not much that I haven’t built

Technology

Ton didn’t have a speciality when he started, but he was the one people turned to for ‘technology’. “I was the youngest, so when it was time to mow the grass, it was always my turn. But when the mower broke down, I was the one who fixed it. We did have a handyman, but he was in Baarn and we didn’t always want to wait for him to get here. So I started doing more things myself: maintaining machines, keeping the taps running, sharpening the tools. I was responsible for garden maintenance outside, but I could also build a greenhouse or a wall. There’s not much that I haven’t built.”

Machines

The arrival of machines made his work a lot easier. “Before, someone had to trim the edges every day, and when it was done, he’d have to start all over again. Now we use machines to do the whole garden in a single day, and we can keep them shorter too. When we’d move the big planters outside the greenhouses in the spring, we needed four men with poles to do it. Now we use a tractor and it’s done in no time

Nevertheless, it’s convenient to be able to do things yourself. “It’s tough when the mower breaks down and you have to wait a week for a repairman. You can’t do that with such a big garden. And the big planters are really expensive to replace. So one day, I started welding and I put together a prototype. Now we have frames and we only have to replace the sides.”

They can always call me if they need some help

Skills

He’s noticed the young people lack some important skills. “You used to be trained in everything: gardening, but also masonry, carpentry, laying cobblestones. You learned everything as a gardener; you were a real all-rounder. That’s not the case anymore. The guys are much more specialised. Not a week goes by that I don’t have to repair something. We old guys can do that. I sometimes wonder what it’ll be like after I leave. They can always call me if they need some help.”

No garden

Ton won’t be getting bored anytime soon. “I have a vegetable greenhouse at my in-laws’ old vegetable farm; I’m always the first person in Utrecht to get fresh potatoes. I also volunteer with the scouts, where some other old-timers and I maintain the building. And I help the kids when they need a new door or some tiles laid.” But what about gardening? “No, I don’t really have a garden at my house. That makes life a lot easier.”