Thursday, April 21, 2011
They tear out hundreds of red and yellow tulips, which are already void of most of their petals, and put them into large trash bags. When the group of five men is done with its annual razing, there is no evidence of the tulips that once marked the campus. The tulips are planted in November, start blooming in mid- to late-spring for about a month, and are replanted every year to start blooming again in spring.
Video
Workers Make Room for New Flowers
Students always seem to be in a rush to get to class. Often times many overlook the time and effort the landscape team puts into making the campus beautiful. KUJH-TV's Sabrina Ahmed has more on this story.
“It’s just part of the tradition at KU,” said Shawn Harding, assistant director of the landscape department.
Facilities Operations is in charge of eight flowerbeds that contain about 11,000 bulbs and hundreds of shrub beds. In addition to planting flowers, the crew picks up trash in the morning, mows the grass at least once a week and otherwise maintains the about 1,000 acres of land on campus.
“I just want to have a nice place for people to come and learn,” Harding said. “I want it to be a destination.”
Although some would like to keep the uprooted tulips instead of throwing them away, the University is not allowed to give them away because the flowers are bought with state money.
In honor of today’s Earth Day, a working group of the KU Center for Sustainability is presenting ideas on how the University can reduce its waste and environmental effect. The group wants to, among other things, incorporate more food-bearing plants for birds and other animals, storm water management and plant more perennials, which last all year, rather than seasonal flowers. The problem with perennials, Harding said, is that they don’t produce flowers this time of year.
“There is a certain aesthetic that’s a part of our campus culture,” said Jeff Severin, director for the KU Center for Sustainability. “We have a lot of great examples of native planting at student rain gardens that demonstrate how we can do a better job with storm water management.”
The KU Student Rain Garden is a 5,200 square feet area of various plants in front of the Ambler Student Recreation Fitness Center that is entirely maintained by students.
Harding said the University had done a lot to reduce cost and waste in the past few years. This year, he hopes to do even more. Harding joined the University’s landscape department a few months ago.
“I’m trying to do stuff that doesn’t require a lot of water and I’m trying not to fertilize at all,” Harding said. The only fertilizer the University is going to use this year is a self-made compost mix.
“We keep all of the leaves and any green stuff in a big pile and we just keep turning it,” Harding said. “It definitely helps us reduce our cost. We can just fill that in and let it decompose.”
Every year, Facilities Operations pulls the flower buds out so they can replant new bulbs for the next spring. Because the state pays for the flowers, Facilities Operations employees are not allowed to give away the flowers and have to throw them away.
Facilities Operations also tries to use native grasses in areas that aren’t high in traffic, such as the West Campus, and limit the number of flowerbeds. This reduces costs and the number of ripped-out flowers.
“We spend less than just about any campus around, and we have less people to do it,” Harding said.
The national average cost for landscaping in public institutions is about $4,500 per acre, and the University only spends about $700 per acre, according the University of Kansas Landscape Master Plan of 2002.
“A lot of it has to do with promoting stewardship of campus land,” Severin said. “We want to maintain our landscape with responsible practices and keep the campus community and culture in mind.”
As soon as the shipment of new plants comes in, the crew will be filling the now vacant flowerbeds with flowers like begonias, impatiens and potato vine. The tulips come back in late fall.
— Edited by Caroline Bledowski
Stopping to smell the roses
Landscaping around campus requires careful planning, budgeting and man power.
Policy prevents recycling tulips
Green trucks, green thumbs
Engineering school working to preserve tree
Planned new building would be built on land where beautiful, changing tree ...
New garden to bring beauty and health
The School of Pharmacy copied a medicinal garden from the 1920s, but ...
Native plants now herbal remedies
Plants are harvested in northeastern Douglas County and then sent to West ...
Letter to the Editor: Chevron give University ...
Partnership with Chevron has been mutually beneficial.
Rain garden by recreation center to prevent ...
Native flowers and grasses will allow the $40,000 garden to manage the ...
What it's like
To landscape campus
Sustainability workshops available this week
The Center for Sustainability is looking for input on the Campus Sustainability ...
Research program prepares for medicinal herb garden
Native Medicinal Plant Research Program will begin working on the new garden ...
Competition to compare energy usage between three ...
Bailey, Green and Summerfield halls will participate in a sustainability contest in ...
Green fund will help make campus more ...
Student Senate approved $10,000 to start a fund for green projects at ...
Energy trackers monitor campus consumption
Facilities Operations staff supervises the University’s energy use to help the environment ...
Climate change will be focus on campus
Wednesday and Thursday about 50 professors from all departments will incorporate the ...
‘Green space’ on campus is endangered
Marvin Grove, other natural icons at the University threatened because of weather, ...
Faculty members get environmental task force positions
Faculty members Simran Sethi and Jeff Severin were chosen by Climate Protection ...
Center seeks student input on sustainability plan
As a part of Campus Sustainability Week, there will be four brainstorming ...
Law school names interim dean to permanent ...
Stephen Mazza has served as interim dean since July and has taught ...
Business school names new dean
KU alumna Neeli Bendapudi will take over as dean of the School ...
Students reap benefits of being outside
A Harvard study finds that time spent in the sun has many ...
Hertz to offer rental cars to students ...
Four rental cars will be available to rent on campus next semester ...
Bailey Hall
The home of numerous liberal arts programs is also on the National ...
Students dig deeper into recycling
Several student groups are taking new looks at recycling on campus.
Strong Hall
The building serves as the University's main administrative headquarters.
Into the Streets with community service
Humanitarian event will feature a speech Nobel Prize winner Jody Williams on ...
Recycling program keeps campus green
KU’s environmental stewardship program recycles materials and redistributes used furniture on campus.
University recycles more than paper and plastic
Besides the standard recyclables, the University also recycles bubble wrap, packing peanuts, ...
Coalitions offer their platforms to campus
ConnectKU, Students of Liberty, and United Students hope to appeal to students ...
Grant money helps improve University research
Research funding from both private and federal sources increases this year.
Power plant proposals under scrutiny
University students are worried about the environmental impact two proposed coal-fired power ...
Joseph R. Pearson Hall
The School of Education's home has stood on campus for 50 years.
Campus tree population cut temporarily due to ...
Football facility project costs campus dozens of trees, but officials say they ...
Connect wants to revamp Potter Lake
By improving Potter Lake’s water quality and landscape, Connect hopes the lake ...
Professor earns award for work in ecotoxicology
The accolade includes $10,000 grant for research.
More than a pretty campus
Explore nature and improve your health by stepping off the sidewalk
United Students propose pool for Recreation Center
One coalition said the addition, estimated to cost about $20 million, wouldn't ...
Rock Chalk Social-Media-Hawk
KU ranked No. 8 in the nation for college social media savvy, ...
Top five hideaways on campus
An escape from midterms may be closer than you think.
Spring has sprung for prospective students
Erratic cold weather has also caused the University to use more bus ...
From left: Kimberlee Hinkle, Libby Johnson and Hannah ...
1 comment
Kansas Jayhawk fans hold aloft a reproduction of ...
2 comments
Erin Saupe, a Ph.D. student from St. Cloud, ...
1 comment
0 comments
Armed robbers continue to threaten.
3 comments
Lecture from Greg Mortenson, co-author of New York ...
0 comments
Comments
Use the comment form below to begin a discussion about this content.
Sign in to comment
Or login with:
OpenID