Grace Malko
“These two holly trees, you can tell they’ve been here a long time.” Vinny gestured towards the trees in the alcove between the Branford and Saybrook courtyards. One of my first memories of Yale, a year ago during Bulldog Days, was admiring the beautiful trees and blooming tulips in the Saybrook courtyard. A year later, here I was, learning about the intricacies of the place I now call home.
I’ve always wanted to have a green thumb, but my greatest botany accomplishment thus far has been keeping a small houseplant alive in my dorm. The care and precision that it takes to run a successful garden, let alone an entire residential college courtyard, is monumentally impressive to me. I had always wanted to approach a Yale groundskeeper and ask them about their work, but I never wanted to interrupt them in the middle of their work.
Luckily, I met Vinny, one of Yale’s groundskeepers, in Saybrook’s stone courtyard last Thursday afternoon as he was in between planting tasks. I approached him sheepishly, sorry to disturb him, but he was immediately welcoming and generously offered to show me and my friend around the grounds.
We started in the Saybrook courtyard, close to the dining hall entryway. He showed me the big leaf hydrangeas, the azaleas and the rhododendrons. He told me he was downsizing the azaleas for the rhododendron plant. “Hopefully it takes this year,” he said with anticipation.
After listening to him explain how to identify the unbloomed azalea bushes from the rhododendrons, we asked him about how he found himself doing this job. Vinny told us he has been here for 28 years, and he’s been working on this part of campus for the past three. He and his partner Dexter are in charge of the groundskeeping for Saybrook, Branford and Trumbull colleges.
It was around this point in our tour that we learned that simply referring to Vinny via his occupation as a groundskeeper would be to do him a disservice. He is a walking bank of knowledge on almost every single plant in the colleges he covers, but remains exceedingly humble about his expertise. The one time my friend and I managed to stump him with a question about the origins of one of the plants in the Saybrook Japanese garden, he admitted, “I’m still trying to learn it myself.” He clearly knows more about the plants in this courtyard than anyone else in the college, but Vinny is adamant that he is still trying to learn more about the plants all of the time.
As he next ushered us towards the Branford courtyard, I asked Vinny how the groundskeepers decided when to plant each flower. “It’s a whole process,” he explained. The cycle of planting and taking care of the courtyard varies by season. October is for planting daffodils and tulip bulbs. November is for pruning the trees. March is for clearing out the beds. April is for aerating and mulching. It seemed to us extremely scientific, but also instinctual, a ritual that Vinny has honed over years of experience with these plants.
When I asked him what his favorite plant was, he hesitated, as if he didn’t want to pick favorites. “Magnolia is nice, weeping cherry is really nice,” he offered, showing us the trees outside of the Saybrook dining hall, not answering the question but instead letting us make the judgement for ourselves. For longevity’s sake, he proposed the option of the Beauty bush which has been here since the 1930’s. My friend and I shrugged — we liked them all too.
As we wove our way around the various alcoves of the courtyard, we started to lose track of time. A full half hour after we had first introduced ourselves to him, Vinny was still graciously answering our questions about the upkeep of the shrubs in the Branford library courtyard. He showed us the Viburnums he waters every day by hand, and explained the details of the pruning process. He demonstrated the careful technique of cutting the plant behind the flower, since pruning comes at the expense of losing the flower for the next year.
Suddenly, our lesson was interrupted as someone poked her head around the corner of the alcove. “Vinny!” she called, “Dexter is looking for you!”
As Vinny began to head over to where his help was needed, we thanked him profusely. Smiling, he turned back around and reminded us to come back and take pictures of the flowers when they bloom in a few weeks.
My friend and I looked at each other in awe. It felt like such an honor to meet a person who had dedicated themselves so deeply to the craft of their vocation. Coming to learn about the grounds which we inhabit helped us to understand Saybrook not just as a home, as in a place to live, but as a shared space to deeply appreciate.
Now, when I look for a place to read or study outside in my home college, I take a moment to take in the garden. Understanding the care that goes into curating it makes being here just a bit sweeter and more meaningful. As I watch the tulips come up again in the Saybrook courtyard, I’m reminded that I am a small part of something beautiful that has been growing here for a long time.