Everyone has seen someone in a bright yellow vest digging around in the campus flower beds or driving a little white van over the past couple months. Those would be University of Wisconsin faculty from the Physical Plant, which is a part of the Facilities Planning & Management.
The Building & Grounds Superintendent Ellen Agnew told The Badger Herald about what happens to all the floral plantings during the transition from fall to winter.
The timeline is weather dependent, and given the 70 degree weather last week, it can be confusing for the plants. Nonetheless, the annual gardener team and the perennial/shrub gardener team is responsible for tending to all of UW’s 936 acres of grounds. Together, it is a team of around 14 people.
Transitioning of the grounds usually begins around September 15th. The team starts by removing annuals — a plant that completes its life cycle within one growing season — from pots and filling those pots with mums for some fall color. Potted garden mums, a type of perennial plant, are surprisingly hardy — they can tolerate cool, almost-freezing temperatures relatively well, which is why we can still see them around now in November.
The next step is to remove the annuals to plant bulbs for the spring displays, prior to the ground freezing. A variety of bulbs are planted, including tulips, hyacinths, daffodils and others. The goal is to remove all the annuals before the temperatures drop below freezing to avoid poor aesthetics. Unlike perennials, which regrow year after year, annuals will not return the following spring.
The perennials are cut back after the first hard freeze — when the temperature reaches 28 degrees or lower for at least a few hours — which causes them to start to die. The perennial grasses are left up wherever possible for winter interest. It isn’t until after Thanksgiving that any perennial grasses are cut that may flop into walkways or roadways with the looming possibility of snowfall.
The stock plants that are removed for cuttings for next spring’s plantings go to the Grounds’ greenhouse. The greenhouse is dedicated to raising the 30,000+ annuals and perennials needed for its many displays. The other annuals that have been removed are composted, which is then delivered to the West Ag Farm.
It takes a couple of weeks for this whole process of digging out and saving the plants that will be reused. A team of 14 can only do so much when fully staffed, so make sure to be friendly, give them a smile if you see them and appreciate all the hard work they do to keep our campus looking beautiful.
