Students in the Graduate Student Horticulture Society planted new life on campus Tuesday as part of Iowa State’s Arbor Day.

Katrina Knudsen, member of the Graduate Student Horticulture Society, designed Witchhazel Walk for Iowa State’s Arbor Day Planting, which took place between Horticulture Hall and Osborn Drive.

This year’s Arbor Day Planting also celebrated Iowa State’s first year as a Tree Campus USA designation. The application for becoming a Tree Campus USA was submitted last winter.

Standards to be considered a Tree Campus USA included having a campus tree advisory committee, a campus tree care plan, a campus tree program with dedicated annual expenditures, an arbor day observance and a service learning project.

“The original thought was that the Graduate Student Horticulture Society just wanted to spruce up the two beds outside of the Horticulture Hall and once we started approaching Facilities Planning and Management on campus, they suggested that the whole corridor be done,” Knudsen said.

In early February, a preliminary meeting took place to introduce the plan to Facilities Planning and Management and professors who were interested in using the new plants for teaching purposes. The expansion in location was talked about and agreed upon by the students and staff at the meeting.

“I was nervous that it was going to be a pretty big chunk of landscape that a lot of people see and walk by every day, but also excited that I was going to be able to do something on campus that was going to be there and that would hopefully last a long time,” Knudsen said.

Although there was a change in location, Knudsen didn’t have to rework her design, which she began drawing up after Christmas break.

“It was really exciting because we were thinking that [Facilities Planning and Management] was going to be limiting our plant selection, but they were really encouraging about adding more witch hazels and even making it a feature plant in the design,” Knudsen said.

The final plan included double the initial amount of witch hazels, bringing the total to 16. 

Despite the freedom Facilities Planning and Management offered for the design, Knudsen faced some obstacles while drawing up the design for the Arbor Day planting.

“Sourcing some of the trees that we wanted or finding some of the varieties of the witch hazels that I had originally proposed was difficult,” Knudsen said.

Knudsen also said designing around existing plants — the corridor was a wind tunnel — and the sun exposure to certain areas of the corridor were obstacles when designing the plan.

Barbara Steiner, supervisor of plant services for Facilities Planning and Management, started getting involved in this year’s Arbor Day planting event in February.

“Witch hazels bloom at a really early time, and [the Graduate Student Horticulture Society] selected varieties that should bloom yellow and red so it ties to Iowa State that way,” Steiner said. “Some of the things we have bloom in the summer when students aren’t here, so this way we thought it would be cool that they’ll be blooming when students are here to enjoy them,” 

Witch hazels are scheduled to bloom in late October and early November.

This unique bloom time will provide a pop of color against white snow come next school year.

The different cultivars of witch hazels selected for the planting include amethyst, kohankie red, Sandra and harvest moon, arnold promise, foxy lady, jelena and strawberries and cream.

Two trees and 75 shrubs were scheduled for the Arbor Day planting. Nearly 300 perennials will be planted Monday.

The plants included one gingerbread maple, 27 green velvet boxwood, 15 Carol Mackie daphne, one black gum, 13 little devil ninebark, five red prince weigela and 16 witch hazel.

The perennials include lady’s mantle, blue star, anemone, bleeding heart, hardy geranium, lenten rose, coral bells and cat mint.

The plants incorporated into Horticulture Hall and Osborn Drive were sourced from Country Landscapes in Ames, Wood Duck Tree Farms in Iowa, Johnson’s Nursery in Wisconsin and a variety of others.

Facilities Planning and Management also donated mulch for the planting event.

Knudsen said the experience was a unique cap to being an ISU student.

“As we moved through the project, I realized it was a bigger deal than just putting plants in the ground,” Knudsen said. “I think once it’s done, I’ll realize just how cool it was and hopefully I’ll come back and be able to see it flourishing and doing well.”

Knudsen plans to continue blending agriculture with landscape design as she works on her master’s at Iowa State. Knudsen is currently working on creating an online garden design course for professional development that she hopes will eventually be offered through Iowa State.