Award-winning grounds management: Univ. of Nevada, Las Vegas

UNLV students and visitors enjoy the variety of hot-weather plants, flowers and trees around the campus.

The landscape team maintains 74 acres of turf, 14 acres of ornamentals and 4 acres of display beds.

Las Vegas — the city that never sleeps. Glittering casinos and giant hotels may dominate a big part of the skyline here, but the campus of the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, is a showcase for thriving desert landscaping.

Las Vegas is located at Nevada's southern tip, in a desert valley surrounded by mountains bordering California's Mojave Desert. With daytime high temperatures exceeding 100 degrees from mid-May to mid-September followed by sub-freezing morning lows lasting for a few days most winters, growing conditions give Facility Supervisor Robert Lynn and his team a consistent challenge.

Rainfall averages about four inches annually, and the water used to irrigate landscapes is alkaline, with high levels of soluble salts. To combat nearly year-round drought conditions, the state requires cities and public institutions, including UNLV, to have drought response plans in place.

Lynn and his team have risen to the challenge, converting more turf to xeriscapes every year. In a climate like this turf reduction is a constant goal to save both precious water and irrigation dollars.

University enrollment exceeds 27,000 students, and the landscape team of 49 full-time, year-round employees maintains turf, ornamentals, display beds, athletic fields and an artificial turf football practice field.

The 337-acre campus is an established arboretum, and the university grounds are often referred to as the "Emerald in the Desert.” A two-acre xeric garden, created in 1988, contains more than 70 species of plants from arid regions around the world, including red yuccas and desert birds of paradise. The arboretum campus and xeric garden attract tours, gardening clubs and special events year-round.