Grounds Crews Bring Spring to Life on Campus

As spring weather begins to slowly take hold in Central New York, members of the Facilities Services’ grounds crews are working to bring the landscaping of the Syracuse University campus to life.

The crews have been busy with their normal springtime activities, which include cleaning up leaves left behind from the fall and stones tossed around by winter plowing, says Grounds Manager Pat Carroll. Worn out ground areas are replaced with fresh sod.

A large portion of the crews’ summer work is mowing 230 acres of campus grounds. Mowing began three weeks ago and will continue through the fall.

As the weather warms up, crews are focused on planting flowers around campus. “It’s been cold, and annuals don’t like that,” says Carroll.

First-time installation of flowers and plants is underway at the new Daniel and Gayle D’Aniello Building, home of the National Veterans Resource Center, located on the corner of Waverly and Crouse avenues. Crews are planting blue scaevola, orange cone flower, paprika yarrow, orange begonias, Karl Foerster feather reed grass and orange roses, reflecting Syracuse University’s traditional orange and blue colors.

The Facilities Services grounds crews are planting and tending to flowers and other flora all around campus. Between 3,000-4,000 bulbs are planted each fall to bloom in the spring. There are lots of orange and blue flowers on campus, but other color schemes can also be found.

Two or three colors of annuals are usually grouped together to look like a basket or an arrangement, Carroll says. This year, crews are planting red, white and orange geraniums; a million bells mix of orange, purple and white; orange and white zinnias; white and orange inpatients; and gold lantana.

“We are lucky to have dedicated, knowledgeable crews that will go the extra mile to maintain the grounds at the highest possible level,” Carroll says.