Caretakers of campus

Small but mighty grounds and landscape team helps K-State put its best foot forward

IDt was a sunny July afternoon — already 97 degrees with humidity making it feel like 100 — and two Kansas State University employees were moving quickly with spot sprayers and wands, attacking weeds along the sidewalks and in mulch outside the Throckmorton Plant Services Building at the corner of Claflin Road and Denison Avenue.

It’s all in a week’s work for the crew, which navigates the best and worst of Midwest weather to deliver a campus experience it hopes welcomes, connects and inspires students, faculty, employees and visitors.

“K-State is committed to keeping our campus beautiful,” said Emily Hall, landscape supervisor. “It’s in our DNA.”

Studies show that it matters, with 62% of prospective students indicating that campus appearance was the most influential factor when deciding where to enroll. A university’s physical campus also can significantly impact student life, academic performance and students’ and alumni’s perception of the institution.

“We have a beautiful campus,” said Linda Craghead, director of facilities services. “We consider our team to be recruiters. No matter their role, they are first-impression makers.”

Bob Odle takes pride in making entryways like the Berney Family Welcome Center attractive, and knows he plays an important part in making the case to students and parents that K-State is a great school to attend.

Neither rain, nor heat nor snow…

Keeping K-State’s physical campus at the heart of the university’s identity truly takes a team effort. That was especially true in January, when a winter storm dropped 15 inches of snow on Manhattan, effectively bringing campus operations to a standstill.

Over four days, the grounds maintenance and landscape team joined forces with other Division of Facilities employees and contractors to clear more than 14.5 million cubic feet of snow — enough to bury the football field at Bill Snyder Family Stadium 130 feet deep — from campus roads, sidewalks, parking lots and entryways. That’s equal to 270 acres of roadways and parking lots and 30 miles of sidewalks. Check out “How K-State Facilities moved a mountain” to see how the team pulled it off, which included Landscape Services Superintendent Steve Snyder driving his four-wheel drive truck around town to pick up coworkers who couldn’t get to work otherwise.

“The team members all wanted to be here to help,” Snyder said. “They love their jobs and they love K-State.”

During the milder seasons, the team also works closely with its K-State peers to keep the campus looking its best – manicured, colorful, well-watered, inviting and, most importantly, safe for everyone who visits. It’s no small task. The Manhattan campus covers 668 acres, which equals 506 football fields or approximately 5.5% the size of Manhattan. With just 20 members on the landscape and maintenance crew, that averages 33 acres per person.

“Most people probably don’t realize the hard work each team member puts in or how many proverbial hats they wear,” Snyder said. “They do a phenomenal job.”

Supporting K-State’s uniqueness

Landscaping and grounds maintenance efforts do more than just keep a university campus well-manicured and safe. They also give a campus its personality, creating a distinct look and feel that enhances the campus’s visual appeal and also promotes well-being and a sense of pride among students, faculty and alumni.

The K-State team understands the powerful impact of well-designed flowers, lawns, open spaces and trees, especially on a campus known for its walkability and accessibility to students, faculty, staff and visitors.

“Our work is the first thing you see when you come to campus,” Snyder said. “This campus is important to our students, prospective students and alumni.”

That work includes caring for more than 3,500 trees, a vital part of K-State’s distinctive campus canopy and one reason the university has earned the Tree Campus USA designation from the Arbor Day Foundation. The deep-rooted history of K-State’s trees and their role in supporting horticultural research and learning are featured in “‘Tis not in forest” in the summer issue of the K-Stater alumni magazine.

This year, the team also planted about 1,500 flowers, including nearly 5,000 tulips in K-State’s signature purple and white, along with catmint, a fragrant, lavender-blooming perennial. Kim Williams, professor of greenhouse management in horticulture and natural resources, provided the majority of this year’s annuals, which were grown by her students in K-State’s greenhouse as part of their plant production course.

Additional flowers were purchased from K-State's Horticulture Club and the National Collegiate Landscape Competition team during their spring sale at the K-State Gardens. And to further boost the beauty of campus and help reduce costs, the grounds maintenance and landscape team grew more than 500 annuals, perennials and woody plants from cuttings.

“Our campus is beautiful and a joy to walk through,” said Cody Domenghini, assistant professor of landscape management, who works closely with the grounds and landscape team to provide learning opportunities for his students each year. “We have a good relationship. They help my students get hands-on experience, which is invaluable.”

Rolling out the welcome mat

Making campus look its best is especially important during the busiest times of the school year, Hall and Snyder said. That includes big events like graduation, All-University Open House, New Student Orientation, Family Weekend and, of course, the start of the fall semester Aug. 25, when students return and campus springs back to life.

“We want everything to look well-kept and inviting,” Hall said. “Having a beautiful campus is a priority at K-State. We take a lot of pride in it.”

Emily Hall prunes Black-eyed Susans near the Power Plant.

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