Elon University, NC: Seeds of Education Under the Oaks

By Kevin Burrows, regional editor

Although most of the turf at Elon University is tall fescue, common bermudagrass creeps in, leaving brown patches in the winter. The crew overseeds the high use and highly visible areas, such as this quadrangle in front the Moseley Campus Center, with rygrass to mask the bermudagrass and to provide better winter color. The display garden at center features Elon?EUR??,,????'???s mascot, the Phoenix, in a bed of tulips and pansies.

Elon University, founded in 1889, is a private liberal arts institution situated in the Piedmont region of North Carolina. Its name means ?EUR??,,????'??oak?EUR??,,????'?? in Hebrew, a nod to the countless oak trees that can be found within the school?EUR??,,????'???s historic red brick walls. The university?EUR??,,????'???s grounds department is responsible for maintaining 182 landscaped acres filled with vibrant flowerbeds and display gardens, not to mention lush fields of turfgrass. For having one of the nation?EUR??,,????'???s most beautiful campuses, the PGMS named it a Grand Award Winner in this year?EUR??,,????'???s Green Star Awards.

The 30,000 pansies planted on campus each fall are enjoyed close-up by thousands of students, visitors and staff. Tulips are often planted in the pansy beds to provide extra interest and are timed to bloom during the peak of the spring student recruitment season. The flowers are nursery bought. ?EUR??,,????'??If you can find a good grower it?EUR??,,????'???s the way to go,?EUR??,,????'?? said Landscape Superintendent Tom Flood.

The Superintendent

Catching up with Tom Flood in early June, Elon?EUR??,,????'???s landscape superintendent was at a conference at Wofford College in South Carolina. The rotating conference (which does not have a name) was first held at Elon last year for landscape architects and superintendents from a number of schools in the Southeast to bounce ideas off one another and observe different maintenance programs. ?EUR??,,????'??At least once a year, we get our crews together and take a look at another campus,?EUR??,,????'?? said Flood. No organization, no dues, no membership. We go there and we tell them our stories and check out their campus. We pick each other?EUR??,,????'???s brains and commiserate. It definitely raises the bar when you see a competitor?EUR??,,????'???s school.?EUR??,,????'??

Flood is in his fifth year at Elon, and has 25 years of experience in the field. After earning a BS in landscape architecture from Colorado State University, he became a PGMS Certified Grounds Manager in 1987. A member of ASLA, he also is completing an MBA program.

Originally known as Elon College until it became Elon University in 2001, the historic campus was designated a botanical garden in 2004. This requires the landscape crew to produce educational programs and publications about the grounds, sponsor horticulture internships, and maintain hundreds of plant and tree labels.

The Crew

Flood manages a landscaping team comprised of 20 full-time employees, two student summer interns and three seasonal workers. Like most grounds maintenance crews, about two-thirds of Elon?EUR??,,????'???s budget goes towards labor.

?EUR??,,????'??The last time I ran the numbers, we were running at over eight acres per person,?EUR??,,????'?? said Flood. ?EUR??,,????'??I?EUR??,,????'???m really proud because we are doing it well and we?EUR??,,????'???re caring for more acres per person that a lot of places around the country.?EUR??,,????'??

The landscaping and grounds crew strive to maintain a ?EUR??,,????'??southern estate garden?EUR??,,????'?? design ethic, which highlights the look and feel of the Georgian architecture on campus. Their biggest item expense is pine needle mulch, with about 15 semi loads delivered each year.

Sports Fields

The sports turf crew, run by Certified Sports Fields Manager Larry Rhodes, cares for the university?EUR??,,????'???s extensive Division I (I-AA in football) varsity and club athletic facilities. ?EUR??,,????'??He is one of the best in the business,?EUR??,,????'?? Flood said. ?EUR??,,????'??He was a student here and played football. He worked for the Charlotte Knights before coming back to Elon.?EUR??,,????'??

Elon?EUR??,,????'???s sports teams, known as the Phoenix, (symbolic of the rebuilding of the school following a 1923 fire that nearly destroyed the campus) compete on seven professional-quality fields and eight intramural/club fields. Keeping the turf in tip-top shape for intercollegiate football, soccer, baseball, and women?EUR??,,????'???s softball, along with club/intramural sports like lacrosse, flag football, rugby, and ultimate Frisbee is a constant challenge. To keep them looking pristine and green, the fields are finely mowed, overseeded with ryegrass and irrigated often.

The natural grass surface in Rhodes Stadium and the other six Division I athletic fields on campus, is comprised of Tiff 419 sport and T-10 Bermuda grass. To keep them looking pristine and green, the fields are finely mowed, overseeded with ryegrass and irrigated often.

Planting

The horticulture crew performs weed control and maintains the many plants on campus. They have their work cut out for them, with 24 color display beds highlighting the landscape. ?EUR??,,????'??Each member of the horticulture crew is assigned a geographic zone they are responsible for,?EUR??,,????'?? said Flood. This year alone, approximately 30,000 winter annuals and 15,000 summer annuals were planted. ?EUR??,,????'??Our cycle is a little bit strange by horticulture standards,?EUR??,,????'?? said Flood.

?EUR??,,????'??We want to have the best show at the most important times. Commencement is usually the third week of May, and we try to keep pansies in bloom until then. If we can do that, we?EUR??,,????'???ll have a lot more color than if we plant summer annuals after the first frost.?EUR??,,????'??

The sports turf crew, run by certified sports fields manager Larry Rhodes, cares for the university?EUR??,,????'???s extensive Division I (I-AA in football) varsity and club athletic facilities. Here they finish painting the end-zone for an upcoming Elon Phoenix football game. During the football season painting can take up more than two days per week.

Turf

The turf crew performs daily mowing, trimming, feeding, and fertility on all of the non-sports turf areas. They also re-mulch the campus in January and February. Turf-type fescue is featured predominantly in the landscape but is constantly getting inundated with common Bermuda. To combat this the team has started overseeding high profile areas every fall with a formula that is 75 percent rye, and 25 percent turf-type fescue. This ensures they get a deep green winter color to mask Bermuda patches.

Irrigation

Elon standardized its irrigation by installing a Toro Sentinel central control system with 10 field satellite controllers. With approximately 60-percent of the developed campus irrigated, they are forced to use Keifco water reels during dry spells in non-irrigated areas.

Fed by captured storm water, three ponds take care of approximately 85 percent of the campus water systems. ?EUR??,,????'??I think this is an environmentally sound system in our climate,?EUR??,,????'?? said Flood. ?EUR??,,????'??Storm water which would otherwise be dumped directly into streams is fed into ponds where sediments have a chance to precipitate out.?EUR??,,????'?? Additionally, the aquatic vegetation helps capture excess nutrients, and water is then pumped back into the landscape where any pollutants are captured and water is cleaned as it is filtered through the ground. Any surplus irrigation water run-off goes back into the storm water system and is dumped back into the ponds for re-use.

This groundskeeper carefully maneuvers a Toro Z mower in front of the McEwen Communications Building in West Campus. With 24 color display beds on the 585 acre campus, each member of the horticulture crew is assigned a geographic zone. Both summer and spring plantings have more than 50 different species or cultivars, with each seasonal planting taking around four weeks to complete. A three and one-half day mowing cycle, along with a stable of mowers that includes Exmark Navigators, Walker mowers and a multi-purpose John Deere 495, are necessary to maintain the 200 acres of manicured turf type fescue.

Fertilizer

While many different kinds of fertilizer are used, depending upon the type of grass and the season, for general campus areas the crew uses a custom blend of 30-5-8 with 2-percent iron and a 75-percent PCSCU, (polymer coated sulfer-coated urea). The high percentage of slow release with iron ensures a steady nutrient release for consistent green color and plant vigor without a flush of growth or nutrient leaching. It also minimizes the number of applications needed, cutting labor needs.

Equipment

Elon maintains a large stable of mowers to care for nearly 200 acres of landscape. For athletic fields, mainly Toro reel mowers are used, while a number of Toro Z mowers are utilized for general campus areas. Exmark Navigators, Walker mowers and a multi-purpose John Deere 495 round out the rest of their garage.

Routine machine maintenance is performed in house. ?EUR??,,????'??I have one groundskeeper with small-engine skills and he does most repairs as needed,?EUR??,,????'?? said Flood. ?EUR??,,????'??Bigger problems are sent out.?EUR??,,????'??

With 24 color display beds on the 585 acre campus, each member of the horticulture crew is assigned a geographic zone. Both summer and spring plantings have more than 50 different species or cultivars, with each seasonal planting taking around four weeks to complete.

Botanical Garden

As if the grounds and sports fields were not big enough challenges, the campus was designated as a botanical garden in 2004, and therefore must be maintained as such.

Rather than being intimidated by new campus responsibilities he instead said, ?EUR??,,????'??It has given us another way to teach outside the classroom, and we are very cognizant that we are making this place seem like an academic oasis for all who visit.?EUR??,,????'??