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The White House’s grounds encompass more than 18 acres of land, its terrain peppered with small gardens and centuries-old trees. Because that land is a national heritage site, rangers from the National Park Service take responsibility for much of the upkeep required to keep it looking presidential. To better understand what that involves, we spoke to supervisory horticulturist Jim Adams for this episode of Working.
A lifelong gardener, Adams has been at the White House for most of the Obama administration. Though he and his team attend to everything including seasonal plantings to helping set up for state visits, he can still sometimes be seen with his pockets full of weeds. Though he goes into detail in this episode about what it takes to maintain a property like this one, he also tells us about some of the animals that call the grounds home—from his encounters with the first family’s dogs to his glimpses of the foxes that make their way through the fence.
Ultimately, Adams feels that his very local work has global reverberations: “We plant our gardens to be as beautiful as they can be for the president.” But he adds, “It’s not just for him and for what’s going on. What we do is on the news. It’s seen by people around the world.”
And in a Slate Plus extra, Adams tells us about getting the grounds ready for the annual White House Easter egg roll and other big events. If you’re a member, enjoy bonus segments and interview transcripts from Working, plus other great podcast exclusives. Start your two-week free trial at slate.com/workingplus.
Email: working@slate.com
Twitter: @Jacob_Brogan
Podcast production by Mickey Capper.
