By Rachel Chiang | Assistant News Editor
Students making their way to class recently may have noticed the lusciously green grass on Fountain Mall.
Similar to Baylor Eats’ efforts in bringing quality food to the dining halls on campus following Aramark’s leave, the beautification efforts made on Fountain Mall have been part of Baylor’s new groundskeeping contractors five-year plan to enhance and improve the landscape around campus.
Tom Everett, grounds director for HES Facilities Management, said when they first started in June, they noted several parts of campus that needed high maintenance. Since Fountain Mall is where students spend the most time out of these locations, Everett said they took on the project to make the area look as nice as possible for events.
One of the steps in getting the lawn to look how it does now, includes the aerification of the soil which facilities accomplished with an aerifier – the spiky plow machine students may have seen poking holes into the ground last semester.
Everett said they then planted rye grass, which favors cooler weather over the currently dormant Bermuda grass, which typically thrives in sunny, warmer weather. So, as spring gradually returns, the rye grass will die out and the Bermuda grass will make its return.
“The key to Bermuda grass is it likes a lot of sun and it likes to be watered,” Everett said. “And we’ve redone the entire irrigation over there and fixed everything, so we’re going to get head-to-head coverage. And I think we’ll have a really beautiful Bermuda lawn before graduation. That’s going to be our goal.”
Facilities gave this aeration treatment to Fountain Mall and the rugby field behind the Baylor Sciences Building. Everett said these two were the only areas to receive this treatment because it is an expensive process, and the rugby field was prioritized because loosening the soil would help prevent injuries during sporting events.
Everett said another issue they have been addressing is irrigation. Those issues have contributed to certain patches of grass and dirt flooding over when it rains. Doug Nesmith, lab coordinator for the department of environmental science, said soil compaction is part of the issue.
“The problem with things like the Fountain Mall is that it is high traffic,” Nesmith said. “And so it gets a lot of compaction, and a lot of compaction means that you have low infiltration rates. So water hits, and it runs off when you don’t have anything there to slow down the rainfall intensity.”
Nesmith added that part of the low infiltration is caused by replacing organic landscape with new buildings.
“Any new construction takes away permeable surface and covers it with impermeable surface. So when we take out a grassy area to build [the Paul L. Foster Success Center], you took away an area that was covered with trees and grass and you put concrete and sidewalks, and you’re going to have more runoff,” Nesmith said. “That’s the problem with success and growth and all that — it’s got to go somewhere, but you have fewer trees, you have fewer squirrels, you have fewer birds, fewer green spaces.”
When Everett first surveyed campus, he said one of the things he noticed was the lack of color around campus. To rectify this, he said his team has planted tulips around campus which have begun blooming just in time for graduation photo opportunities.
“It’s just going to be a sea of color,” Everett said. “It’s going to be absolutely gorgeous … They’re coming up right now.”
Everett said he hopes to extend the five-year plan to 25 years. He and his team also plan to replace some hedges and bushes, clean up Waco Creek and “do something with the riverwalk” — a topic which he is meeting with student government to discuss in the coming weeks.
“I want to do a lot on this campus, and I think Baylor does too,” Everett said. “This campus is so beautiful. It’s just missing the touches.”
