A student walks past a newly planted flower bed near Russ Hall.

Beautiful!

Campus landscaping makes big impression

When students and their parents fill out evaluation forms following a campus visit, one consistent comment is how beautiful the campus is. Heather Eckstein, interim co-director of Admission, said work that campus landscaping crews put into making the campus attractive helps make a positive impression on the students her office is trying to recruit.

Members of the PSU landscaping crew put in a new flower bed near the Student Center. Two large Bird of Paradise plants are the focal point in this planting.

“They specifically comment on how beautiful the campus is,” Eckstein. “The look of the campus is an important part of the traditional college atmosphere that appeals to both students and their parents.”

That’s the kind of news that Larry Miller, who supervises the 14-person grounds and maintenance crew at PSU, likes to hear.

“It reminds us how important the landscaping is to the image of the university,” Miller said.

The spring months are busy times for his workers, Miller, said, “but summer is really busy, too, and then there’s always a lot to do in the fall.” In fact, the landscapers seem to be busy almost all year long.

Students take a break between classes amidst beds of colorful tulips.

The landscapers’ work stages its first big show with the blooming of massive beds of tulips in the early spring. When those blooms are gone, the workers replace many of those beds with plants that put on a show through the summer and into the fall.

“When planning, the first thing we consider is color and visual impact,” Miller said, admitting a preference for red and yellow blooms. “The next step is selecting suitable plants for the location and the level of maintenance we are able to provide.”

Miller said some of the familiar beds on the Oval are looking more tropical this year. For example, a bed on the south side of the Student Center has as its centerpiece two Bird of Paradise plants. A bed near Russ Hall features a large banana tree.

Miller said landscaping require both a short-term and a long-term plan. Twice a year he meets with Physical Plant Director Larry Nokes to go over projects on the horizon. Some items may stay on the wish list for a while before funding is available.

One big item on Miller’s long-range list is landscaping around Grubbs Hall.

“That’s been on our wish list for quite a while,” Miller said. “We would like to have a little more green space instead of all that concrete.”

Everything should be a little greener on campus this week after some much-needed rain.

“The dry weather has made it hard on everything,” Miller said. “It stresses the large trees and is hard on the newly planted material, as well. It would take a lot of rain to catch up, but every little bit helps.”

---Pitt State--