· 3 min read
Landscape Services team digs in to keep campus beautiful
Landscape Services is the unsung hero of campus beauty. While students walk to class among blooming Canna Lillies and towering trees, students and staff work tirelessly to maintain intricate displays of trees, shrubs, perennials and annuals.
This summer, University of Nebraska-Lincoln Landscape Services staff, including 22 students, spent more than 4,000 hours cultivating the campus landscape for summer visitors and in anticipation of fall.
The staff maintained:
617 total acres
Over 325 acres of green space
Approximately 7,000 trees which contribute to the Arbor Day Tree Campus designation. The university has earned the designation for the past 13 years.
15 miles of streets and 35 miles of paved sidewalks
84.5 acres of parking with 16,076 stalls
In 2021, landscape services has planted:
4,108 annual plants
669 perennial plants
314 shrubs
137 trees
Landscape Services also supports recycling efforts at Nebraska. In 2019, the university diverted 3,354 tons of materials away from the landfill with a diversion rate of 59%. The university employs three full-time drivers to empty bins across campus, which include 979 recycling and waste receptacles. According to Green Quest, as a result of recycling efforts in 2019, the university conserved:
11,837 trees
4,874,240 gallons of water
974,848 pounds of air pollution
2,854,912 kilowatt-hours of electricity
2,298 cubic yards of landfill space
In the winter, Landscape Services trades their lawnmowers for snowplows. During winter 2020-21, they spent:
- 4,428.25 hours clearing parking lots
- 5971.75 hours clearing sidewalks and building entrances