(Spencer J Eggers/The Daily Campus)
It is hard to imagine that more than 100 years ago the land that the Southern Methodist University campus sits on was a cotton field. Today, SMU’s 175-acre campus is well-known for its tree-lined boulevard and perfectly manicured grass, which entice many prospective students and donors alike.
In 2004, SMU received an Honor Award from the Professional Grounds Management Society in the Urban University Grounds category. The university’s lawns have also been featured in leading landscape magazines.
For the past nine years, Kevin Dillard has served as SMU’s landscape manager and worked thoughtfully toward maintaining and improving SMU’s high standard of grounds keeping.
Former Residence Life and Student Housing tour guide Natasha Cannon noticed that prospective students are often impressed by the landscaping on campus. Often times, the well-kept campus was part of the reason students chose to come to SMU.
The university would not release the landscape budget figure after repeated calls to the Budget and Financial Planning office. The Resource Management Services office also declined to comment. According to the 2010 Treasurer Report, however, only three percent of the 2009 to 2010 endowment was designated for maintenance purposes, while the other 97 percent was used for educational program support, scholarships and faculty and staff support. Considering that SMU is one of 77 universities with an endowment of about $1 billion, that three percent allotted to the upkeep of school grounds is still a fairly large amount.
Many students feel that the upkeep of the school grounds strongly reflects the university’s overall concern with the image it gives off.
“For the hefty price tag that comes with an SMU education, a beautiful, pristine and green campus should be expected, if not demanded,” junior James Gunnar said.
Other students, however, believe that the fiscal resources used for landscape maintenance could be put to better use.
Aric Horst, 20, agrees that SMU’s campus is beautiful, but he thinks that the university could cut the budget set aside for landscaping without decreasing the standard of aesthetic appeal that the school offers. Instead of spending as much capital on the grounds management, Horst believes that the university’s Internet access would benefit from a complete overhaul.
Due to Dallas’ unique weather, Dillard and his 18-member team work tenaciously to maintain and manage the existing flora on campus.
Aside from the already poor soil conditions that North Texas has to offer, the maintenance staff struggles with the extreme temperature changes that sometimes occur overnight and without much warning.
Dillard explains that the team’s only defense against the unpredictable weather is to “plan ahead by using the right plant in the right place based on what you know is the average condition.” But when the temperature can go from 70 degrees to below freezing overnight, it can be difficult to plan ahead.
This winter in particular has been unusually warm in North Texas, and Dillard admits that the issue with this phenomena is that it tricks the plants into come out of dormancy too early.
When this occurs, the plants can be easily damaged by a late frost, which happens with some regularity during the winter months.
Conservation and sustainability are the focus for SMU’s distinctive landscape management.
The use of drought-resistant plants and perennials have become commonplace on campus in order to conserve water and other resources during this record-breaking Texas drought.
Dillard strives to use as much recycled water as possible to combat the shortage of water.
If the drought continues, however, “we may have to re-evaluate what gets planted and when in order to save water in the long run.”
