* James Dale Witt, 35Job: Gardener.Expertise: Degrees...
* James Dale Witt, 35
Job: Gardener.
Expertise: Degrees in landscape architecture and horticulture, plus internships at several gardens.
Locale: The Arboretum of Los Angeles County in Arcadia.
Hours: 7 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.
Salary: $20,000 to $30,000
What I do: I’m responsible for the maintenance of the grounds and I like to do some of the planting myself.
We use rakes, hoes, shovels, clippers, all these hand tools and power tools. My favorite is the rototiller because you can swirl the soil around so pretty.
I get a feeling of involvement since I get to design an area and then help plant it. I wanted to work in a place where I could not only arrange things, but also learn about the plants. Some of the plants will be here 20 or 30 years, some of the trees may last 100 years.
My little sister was a Girl Scout and they would have garden tours to raise money. I got to thinking, look at all these beautiful gardens.
What I do is better than having a job that keeps you at a desk all day. There’s a saying in the Bible. I think it goes, “The sleep of a laborer is sweet.” That’s true.
Why I do it: It’s not like you are making a lot of money doing this kind of work but being in a beautiful place like this makes up for it. It’s wages of another sort.
