Ryan Boyce, The Oklahoma Daily
Chester Warner, an OU landscaper, spends his summer outside in the heat, getting to campus before dawn and working throughout most of the day.
Blistering heat and the overbearing Oklahoma sun is just a fact of life for OU landscape workers, because they have to keep the campus vegetation in order, and it doesn’t matter if temperatures are high.
Chester Warner is a landscape specialist at OU. He has worked for OU Landscaping for six years and has worked in landscaping before that.
During his time in landscaping, he’s learned a few tricks.
“You try to do your heaviest work in the morning,” he said.
In the afternoon, when it starts getting warm, he begins the less physical part of his labor. Staying hydrated is key, he said.
Warner gets up early to keep OU’s gardens in order, sometimes working in temperatures near 100 degrees, a skill he attributes to his resistance to Oklahoma’s climate that he has built up over the years and also a just-do-it mentality, he said.
On an average summer day, Warner arrives at OU at 5 a.m. to begin work, which includes watering and trimming shrubs, grass and roses; pulling weeds; maintaining gardens and removing trash.
“It needs to be done,” he said. “You know what you have to do, and you just do it. I’ve been working in Oklahoma heat for years, so it doesn’t really bother me.”
Despite having to endure triple-digit temperatures, Warner said he gets a sense of satisfaction from his job and enjoys working at OU.
“[I like] making the campus look nice,” he said. “It’s something for visitors and students to look at and appreciate.”
Many do appreciate it.
“It looks amazing,” said sophomore electrical engineering major Evan Tisdale. “I work out in my yard a lot, but I can’t imagine how difficult it must be to do that on a daily basis.”
As well, Oklahoma City Community College pre-engineering major Cody Mitchell cites the polished atmosphere of the campus as one of the major reasons for his planning to transfer to OU.
“It looks fantastic,” he said. “I took a look around and thought this was a good place to be.”
Warner is modest about his work, though, when asked about the year-round beauty of campus.
“It’s just there and it looks nice,” he said.
But how long does Warner plan to continue wiping the sweat from his brow after a hard day’s work on campus? Warner has a simple answer for that.
“As long as they’ll let me,” he said.
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