Becky Gillette – Summer D. Sherrod moved from Keller, Texas, to Fayetteville to go to the University of Arkansas to study sustainability.
“They didn’t have a degree program for it, so going through classes I found myself in horticulture,” Sherrod, who was hired in early May as the gardener for the Eureka Springs Parks Department, said. “That is where I fit. I interned in the campus Office of Sustainability and with a solid waste management district. But I found that my love is in horticulture and working with the plant world.”
Sherrod took a semester off from university, and plans to finish her degree online. In the meantime, she is making her mark with the public gardens in Eureka Springs.
“My biggest challenge has been figuring out where to start,” Sherrod said. “I came in during the middle of the season and there was so much to do in the gardens. I was pulling weeds the whole time. I really worked hard to have the gardens looking good for the Master’s Gardener’s state conference held here recently. Now that the Master Gardener’s conference is over, I’m playing a little less catch up.”
This growing season, she has to go primarily with what has already been planted. Then she will figure out what she might want to add in the future.
“I’m thinking of this as a learning year. I need to learn the gardens and learn how the water systems work, and what the climate is like. The elevation here is a little higher than Fayetteville. There is just a lot to be learned right now.”
While it would be a dream come true to have a team of other people helping her out, that isn’t the case. “It is just me,” she said. “I do what I can in the time I have, and that is the best I can do.”
The job covers a lot of territory. There are gardens at Planer Hill, Basin Park, Sweet Spring, Harding Spring, Crescent Spring, Grotto Spring, Gadd Spring, Cave Spring, Onyx Spring, Calif Spring, Magnetic Spring, the Eureka Springs Parks & Recreation headquarters, and the East Mountain overlook.
With the heat of summer, Sherrod gets at the job early, as the majority of work is best done either early in the morning or in the evening when sun goes down.
“I’m trying not to work evenings because I need my personal time, too,” she said. “I try not to work on weekends if I can. One of my Parks co-workers helps water on weekends. We water most of the gardens every day. It has to be done when the weather is hot.”
Basically, it rained considerably in May, so they got a break from watering. But since June rolled around and it dried up, it has been a daily chore.
Sherrod is a big supporter of the Eureka Springs Pollinator Alliance, which is supporting the city’s new designation as a Bee City USA.
“I love the idea of gardening with natives and pollinator plants,” Sherrod said. “They lend themselves towards more sustainable practices. I think that’s the direction we need to go. I also am opposed to using chemicals in the gardens. In this day and age, we should know better than to be using detrimental chemicals in our environment. With all the research coming out on glyphosate causing cancer, the history of Monsanto, and more, we should know by now that we need to protect the environment in every little way possible.”
Sherrod said it won’t be easy, but her dream is to move the gardens towards a more sustainable design that lends itself to native plants and pollinator plants that support the ecological processes in the immediate vicinity.
“I would like to see our gardens in town participate in the local ecology,” she said. “The first step towards that is building the soil. Inorganic gardening doesn’t build or feed the soil, it only feeds the plants. But the fact of the matter is that the healthiest, strongest plants come from healthy, strong soil.”
One part of the local ecology she isn’t so keen on is deer that can cause a great deal of damage to gardens.
“I have seen a lot of deer,” she said. “That is part of the equation there. It wasn’t when I learned my skills in Fayetteville. There are ways to cope with that. It is just a matter of learning and implementing them.”
While other gardeners find groundhogs an even bigger problem than deer, Sherrod said she hasn’t had problems with groundhogs, at least not yet.
“One of the things I’ve learned from working with nature is there is constant change,” he said. “I wouldn’t be surprised if I have to deal with groundhogs soon. You just have to roll with it.”
One of her favorite plants, because of her interest in herbal medicine, is echinacea.
“Echinacea is such a landmark piece in the herbalist cabinet,” Sherrod said. “You won’t meet an herbalist who doesn’t have it. It is an abundant, beautiful Ozark native. Right now they are coming out with different ornamental cultivars of it like Butterfly™ Rainbow Marcella, which has pink and orange blooms. I would love to put some of those in the gardens.
“Another personal favorite is orchids because there is so much variety. Orchids are found naturally on six of the seven continents.”
One thing she likes about the new job is she gets to be an ambassador for the town since visitors often stop to talk to her at the gardens.
“I like it that I’m able to shed some sunshine on what they are seeing, telling them about the plants and what we are trying to do,” she said. “And how much this town loves gardens is wonderful.”
She has also found that Eureka Springs is a great place to show off to family and friends.
“It is just a fun place to be with all the festivals and other events going on.”