Physical Plant’s Grounds Department is constantly searching for ways to reduce the amount of water necessary to irrigate the thousands of plants on campus. To that end, Grounds employs a strategy called xeriscaping to help cut down on water usage.
Xeriscaping is a landscaping philosophy that emphasizes using native and drought-resistant plants which do not require supplemental irrigation. Xeriscaped areas also require little maintenance and soil preparation to survive.
PPD Landscaping/Groundskeeping Superintendent Marty Werts said, “We’re very committed to reducing our water usage in landscape design at Grounds. I would estimate that 80% of the landscape projects we implement are xeriscaped, and more than half of those designs incorporate primarily native plants.” Native plants offer unique advantages, according to Werts. “We can greatly reduce the labor time involved in caring for landscaped areas using natives,” he explains. “They’re much more hardy because they’re used to the climate and the soil – we don’t have to amend the soil prior to planting. Also, they’re very efficient when it comes to watering – most native plants can get by with just rainwater and don’t have to be irrigated constantly.”
However, not every design can incorporate native plants. Werts says that Grounds occasionally uses non-natives in some applications in order to promote plant diversity on campus. Care also has to be taken to match native plants to the right area for planting.
“For example, the blue flag iris is a native plant, but it grows primarily in wetland areas,” said Werts. “That’s not a plant that we want to put out in the middle of the Reitz Union lawn. It’s important that we pay attention to a native plant’s natural habitat when designing uses for them.”
PPD Grounds Assistant Director Fred Gratto said, “I read recently that 1000 people move to Florida every day. In that same article, I learned that 450 acres of land in our state are cleared for development, every day. The impact on the environment is staggering. For example, consider the water level in the many lakes around nearby Melrose and Keystone Heights. Some of these once vibrant lakes are now not much more than big puddles. We know about the stresses on land and water resources, therefore it is important for us to use native plants so that we can do our part to help the environment.”
Marty Werts echoes Gratto’s sentiments – to both, using xeriscape strategies and native plants in landscape design is a necessity, as well as a philosophy. “Our landscape standards here at Grounds require that we use xeriscaping as much as possible,” Werts said. “But even if they didn’t, I’d still want to do it, because I just feel that it’s the right thing to do. Conservation and sustainability are goals that we all should be working towards, and xeriscape designs incorporating native plants are an excellent way to meet those goals.”
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