Terrence Bevins speculated that he has been coming to the Arboretum “almost since birth.” The youngest in a family of veteran Arboretum volunteers, he imagined that his mother Ann carried him to events on her hip – and then other volunteers looked after him. Like family.
There was a period of parking cars for Terrence – like his father Shawn – at plant sales and other occasions. That was followed by contract work on the maintenance crew and finally his current position as Landis groundskeeper.
Terrence genuinely enjoys keeping the Arboretum’s landscape looking its best for visitors. He is particularly enthusiastic about his work restoring some of the Arboretum’s heritage plantings and controlling invasive species. Feeding those invasive plants into the wood chipper gives him a real sense of accomplishment – and a perverse pleasure, he quipped.
But “it’s more than mowing and weed whacking,” Terrence noted. There are many benefits to his job beyond the paycheck. “It’s hard to be around Fred and Erin without absorbing some of their knowledge almost by osmosis,” he said. His skill at identifying woody plants has markedly improved, as has his understanding of forest management, that complex synergy of human and nature. He mentioned that his mastery of horticultural nomenclature has also benefited from his time with other volunteers. He quizzes himself when he assists Joe Behn unloading his consignments for the spring and fall plant sales!
“These people [volunteers] are so welcoming and come from all walks of life,” he said. “They bring a lifetime of experience to the Arboretum, botanical and otherwise. It’s just a fascinating spiderweb of shared experiences, all contributing to making the Arboretum what it is.”
Yes, he can lose himself for hours or even days on a project anywhere on the Arboretum’s hundreds of acres. But sometimes a chance brief encounter with a visitor may be just as rewarding. The other day, he said, a couple visiting Landis for the first time asked him for recommendations about what to see. When they returned, he talked with them for about an hour and a half. “They were people I had never met before. But who knows? They might someday become a part of the fabric of the Arboretum community.”
Terrence admitted that while mowing near the Arboretum’s signature “Great Oak,” he was moved by a memorial to a former high school colleague who died young, someone who also loved the Arboretum. And that led him to think of the many other memorial trees and what he called “stories in the landscape” of Landis. “So much history,“ he said. “Not just the trees planted by Fred Lape in the 40s and 50s. I think of how many people there are who have been important to the Arboretum, how central the Arboretum has been in so many people’s lives.”
There’s no doubt that Terrence feels entirely at home at Landis. To anyone who’s met him, there’s no doubt that he’s part of the Landis family.