Facilities Services Department

Grasses/Plants on Campus

Join a building construction committee. Construction projects include design and building of the site and landscaping around the building. Visit the Science Engineering websites.

Pick up trash as you walk across campus.

Stay on designated paths to avoid killing delicate new growth

Volunteer for planting projects-roundabout, sponsored planters. Contact Keith Woodring, Grounds Supervisor for project opportunities.

Submit Work Request for groundskeeping issues

• there is a sprinkler leaking or run amok
• excessive trash
• request snow removal

August 2006
Grounds crew planted and installed sprinkler lines for new grass around newly renovated Soccer Field.

Early Summer
Moved trees affected by Dwire Hall renovation

There are 8 garden sites and 6 planter sites on campus. Garden sites are defined as a concentrated area of diverse plants at or slightly above grade, based on a designed planting, requiring regular maintenance/irrigation and replacement of plants to keep the design intact. Planters are enclosed raised structures which also require irrigation and regular replacement of plants.
Gardens are filled with perennials, bulbs, groundcover and annuals for an everchanging palette of color throughout the year. Areas around most buildings are planted with ground cover, grasses, bushes or evergreen bushes.

Gardens

• Campus Services Triangle
• Columbine Hall Four winds sculpture
• El Pomar Center plaza
• Iris Bed
• Main Hall circles
• Medians at Meadow Entrance and Regent Circle
• Regent Circle Entrance and roundabout
• Meadow Entrance roundabout

Planters

• Columbine Hall
• Main Hall
• Science Building
• El Pomar Center plaza
• University Center upper and lower plaza
• Alpine Village-formerly at Dwire hall

There are currently two propsed gardens being planned and reviewed. Plans are available for review on each of these projects. They are the:

• DPS front and front east side
• Xeriscape demonstration garden

UCCS has a varied micro-culture within Colorado Springs. We have the native bluffs climate surrounding campus but we also have a more cultivated climate within campus between buildings and in open spaces. Most construction projects on campus include a Landscaping Plan. These plans include a wide variety of perennial and annual plants, trees, bushes, and grasses.

During the planning phases of construction projects members of the campus community are invited to participate in the design and review for the landscaping plans. To participate in one of these reviews watch your campus email and check this page's Landscaping Plans section.

Plants most commonly found on campus (common name) The Photo Library has a list of the plants on campus. This list is not meant to be comprehensive. Clicking on a linked plant will launch a new window with a photo and description of the plant from a database of plants. Databases used are the Denver Botanical Garden, University of Conneticut Plant Database, North Dakota State University Trees Handbook, Texas Tech Plant Lists, Virginia Tech Denrology and the USDA Plants Database-this can be slow to open, please be patient. Facilities would like to generate a comprehensive library of plants found on UCCS, both cultivated and wild. If you know of other plants found on campus please submit to our database by emailing Mary Kunkel with the plant name, location on campus and image if you have one.

Thanks to the bluffs roughly 60% of the UCCS campus is native landscaping. This is defined as native plant life allowed to grow pretty much unassisted and unchecked. UCCS encourages native landscaping to be used as much as possible when designing and constructing on campus.
Native landscaping saves water, gas, and time as it does not require weekly maintenance.
These areas also enhance UCCS's unique image and dedication to living in cooperation with our unique environment

 There are several other areas within the campus that are also considered native landscaping. These areas are not irrigated or planted, other than the initial planting after a disturbance, such as construction, to prevent erosion. Some of these areas are:

• Columbine Hall
• Campus Services Building
• Eagle Rock Complex
   

Native areas are very delicate as the plants have to struggle for every resource, the most important being water. Therefore, it is important to stay on designated paths and maintain trash vigilance in these areas, as even one person walking through a field can cause irreparable damage to the delicate plants, leading to erosion and the formation of deep gullies.

UCCS has a diverse forest of trees including both coniferous and deciduos trees. There are many mature trees dating back decades as well as numerous young trees planted as part of the many campus construction projects and as replacement to dying or diseased trees.

Trees on campus are assessed throughout the year to determine health, placement, and design viability. To assist with their over all health, trees are pruned and treated for diseases. Generally, if a tree is removed due to age or disease it is replaced during the next planting cycle, funding permitted. If there are changes to the requirments of the area where the tree once was, due to construction or design parameters, something other than a replacement tree may be subsituted including a different species of tree, lansdcaping or a building or road.

Every effort is made to keep all the trees on campus in good health as well as increase the number and variety of trees on campus.

During construction projects every tree impacted by the construction is evaluated for health and suitability to the project. If possible the tree is either preserved or moved to a new location on campus. If a tree is not able to be moved due to health or size the tree is removed.

Over 50 new trees were planted during the growing season 2005.

• To preserve as many of the campus trees as possible
• To increase the variety of trees on campus
• To plant trees with the best chance of surviving our unique climate
• To increase the number of trees on campus in gerenal and in hot zones specifically (hot zones are determined by the landscape committee, campus architect and campus Master Gardner)