Winter can't take the bloom off MU's looks

MU's campus landscape rated best in the land in national competition

by Jon Stemmle

undreds of people walk through the Memorial Tower arch every day, hardly noticing the flowers that line Memorial Union's Hitt Street side.

Thousands of cars hurtle past the Dan Devine Pavilion each day, drivers taking a quick peak at the mammoth structure but failing to notice the equally impressive landscape.

While many in the MU community may take the campus landscaping for granted, one national landscaping group has seen greatness in Columbia.

The trees and flowers beds on Lowry Mall are indicative of the beautiful landscapes throughout the MU campus.

The Professional Grounds Management Society and Landscape Management Magazine have awarded Campus Facilities' Landscape Services its 1999 Grand Award in the College and University category. The University of Richmond in Virginia, also earned a grand award in the category, tying MU in votes.

"This award demonstrates our commitment to the university and our expertise in the landscape services field," said Tom Flood, superintendent of Landscape Services. "It's also a great morale booster for our employees to be part of a nationally-recognized team. It makes a statement of the kind of work being done at the University of Missouri-Columbia."

Landscape Services in 1994 submitted an entry in the P G M S Awards, receiving an Honor Award for its efforts.

In the five years that have passed since that first foray into the P G M S Awards, Landscape Services has significantly expanded MU's gardens, added more professionals to its staff, including three arborists, and initiated a full-blown Integrated Pest Management program.

Going for the gold

Landscape Services employees replace the sod on the Francis Quadrangle after the 1998 summer construction.

The application process for the award involves far more than submitting just a few pretty pictures.

Landscape Services created a portfolio of 15 slides highlighting overall beauty on campus, five slides of areas that are especially difficult to maintain and five slides of crew members at work. Along with the slides, submissions also included information on total maintained acreage, number of employees, man-hours spent working each week, and expenditures.

"They look closely at the photos for details, the trash on the grounds, the quality of the turf, density and overall health of the plants, and even the mowing patterns," said Flood. "It was a three-week process to get the application together."

The contest featured 13 categories and included entrants from throughout the U.S. Entries were up 83 percent this year and represented 22 states, plus the District of Columbia and British West Indies, according to John Gillan, executive director of P G M S.

The best gets better

The newly crowned Grand Award winners don't plan to rest on their laurels. Landscape Services crews are currently dealing with one of the worst droughts in recent memory along with prepping the MU grounds for next spring.

"With a campus this size there is always plenty to do," said Charles Paxton, a landscape supervisor in Landscape Services. "This is the time when we repair any landscape damage caused by construction projects and plant for next year. Add that to a lot of extra watering because of the drought and it's easy to see a very busy winter ahead."