The campus landscape will soon be turning greener with the help of the Campus Services grounds crew and Facilities Planning and Management landscape architects.

Mother Nature is not the only one responsible for the campus landscape’s spring transformations.

The 43 employees of the Campus Services grounds crew are responsible for the spring planting preparations as well as the maintenance of trees, shrubs, lawns, flowers and equipment during the rest of the year, said Lester Lawson, assistant manager for Campus Services.

During the summer, Campus Services hires about 40 students to help the grounds crew with weeding, mowing, planting and maintaining certain areas of campus.

Spring preparations begin as soon as the weather breaks.

“Thanks to good weather in February, we got way ahead,” Lawson said, adding that planting preparations usually begin in April.

There are some grounds crew employees who only plant flowers during the spring.

Lisa Orgler, landscape designer for Facilities Planning and Management, said between 10,000 and 14,000 annuals are planted each spring season.

She said the number of perennials planted each season range from 700 to 8,000. Perennials are planted during spring and fall, lasting for more than one season.

In addition to flowers, between 200 and 600 trees and 100 to 1,500 shrubs are planted during each planting season, Orgler said.

Once preparations for spring are complete, attention is given to maintaining the grounds.

“Mowing the lawns is a continuous cycle,” Lawson said.

Each cycle takes about a week, so when all of campus is mowed, the grounds crew has to start over again.

Besides regular maintenance, there are also renovations and ongoing projects.

The College Creek Restoration Phase II project, landscaping the new Student Health Center and the Central Campus project are all increasing the number of perennials that will be planted this spring, Orgler said.

She said perennials will be used to re-establish the plant community affected by the College Creek Restoration project, since many plants were removed during earlier work.

Rick Fox, staff landscape architect for Facilities Planning and Management, said the Central Campus project will involve replacing old plantings that are declining.

Perennials will also be in bloom at the new Student Health Center.

“Most of the perennials will be used to improve the quality of the existing beds and as replacements for declining plants,” Orgler said.

Since northern states have heartier plants, the crews use plants purchased from suppliers in Iowa, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Illinois, Nebraska and Ohio. ISU doesn’t have the staff to grow and maintain seedlings, Orgler said.

Since 1990, there has been ample funding for landscaping.

Funds have been provided by appropriations by university administrators, who often fund certain projects benefiting the safety and beautification of ISU’s campus, Fox said.

“[ISU President Martin Jischke] has been a big supporter of landscape improvements. From his start at ISU, Jischke saw the need to improve the campus landscape,” Orgler said.