Lubbers Stadium at Grand Valley State University

Completed during the summer of 1979, Grand Valley State University's Lubbers Stadium was a sight to behold. But excessive wear finally took its toll, and the field was completely re-sodded in 2001. Maintenance includes mowing and divot repair, fertilization, sod replacement, and field marking and line painting, among others. Mowing on the steep bermed areas that surround the seating areas is quite a challenge. Another task that keeps grounds crew members up at night is keeping snow off the field in November. Two tarps are used to cover the field for light snow; a large tractor with snowblower attachment takes care of the heavier stuff. Grand Valley is a member of the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC) and the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA Division II).

Mennonite Mutual Insurance Company

So they sell insurance. It doesn't mean Mennonite Mutual Insurance Company can't look beautiful. The job falls to the E.F. Pouly Company, who state as one of their challenges the maintenance of 75 shade and ornamental trees within budget. In 2002, the grounds crew had to partially renovate the lawn area due to a drought. Due to the size of the building, the E.F. Pouly Company designed companion plantings to appear as shrubs and groundcover even though the plant material actually used was trees. The callery pear trees are especially difficult to maintain, given the extra time and frequency of pruning during the maturing process. Applying a fungicide to the crabapple and groundcover junipers in the high traffic island bed is no picnic either.

Multnomah Bible College & Seminary

If it's Bible you want, then you want Multnomah! At least that's what the school's Web site says. Educating Christians for leadership positions in the Church is the school's mission, and the grounds crew's mission is to beautify the campus. A new seminary building has added to their workload, as has the removal of a parking lot to make way for a walking garden. No one likes to get surprise sprinkles, so the timing on irrigation controllers has to be periodically adjusted to avoid complaints. Emitter tubing is used to water most of the school's plants. The grounds crew's old maintenance building was demolished to make way for a new one, but a portion of the slab was saved for a patio in the landscaped area.

Renaissance PineIsle Resort & Golf Club

Renaissance PineIsle Resort & Golf Club is an island unto itself…really. Surrounded by the 38,000-acre Lake Sidney Lanier, the grounds crew takes being "environmentally sensitive" to a whole new level. That means a higher tolerance of weeds and few chemicals. The golf course on site hosted the Nestle World Championship of ladies golf from 1985 to 1989. The grounds crew not only has to maintain the course but the areas around four outdoor and three enclosed tennis courts. A favorite photo spot for guests is the west wing, where there's a small accent planting of juniper, begonia, caladium and marigold. To minimize disruption during construction or renovation, the grounds crew installs privacy fences to hide construction/maintenance areas.

Texas Tech University

When you walk into Texas Tech, you know exactly where you are when you see a statue of Will Rogers (who once called the Texas Tech campus "the prettiest campus this side of the Mississippi") on his horse, Soapsuds. Rogers and his horse have plenty of room to roam, with 930 continuous acres comprising the main campus.

The grounds crew of 90 is also responsible for maintaining satellite campuses in and around Lubbock, for a total of 1,800 square acres. Three full-time groundskeepers keep 15 acres of Big 12 sports complexes in peak condition. Small planters are used extensively throughout campus to show different types of plants such as cannas, copper plants, dusty miller and lantana.

University of Pittsburgh

The University of Pittsburgh's grounds crew is one hard working crew, working 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. every day with two shifts. The only day they don't work is Christmas — if there isn't any snow. An urban campus, the grounds cover 14 miles of walkways, 40 acres of parking lots and 30 acres of turf. Spring plantings consist of over 34,000 annuals and up to 1,000 perennials. A recent project was the completion of the panther bed, with a sculpture of a panther. The panther came from Italy, and the grounds crew had to search for the perfect rocks on which to attach it. With total enrollment of 30,000, the crew is constantly dodging students to accomplish its tasks. Many of the trees near Heinz Chapel are dedicated from alumni families and friends who have passed away.

University of Texas at Austin

Founded in 1883 as a small campus with only one building and 221 students, this school has come a long way. Today, nearly 49,000 students are enrolled, and the main campus has 425 acres of land with more than 160 buildings. That's a lot of grounds maintenance. Over 460 hours of labor a week are dedicated to picking up litter and emptying trash receptacles. Mowing, trimming and blowing are hard to accomplish when the sidewalks are filled with students. Irrigation and irrigation maintenance are challenging tasks due to hills, slopes, shallow and rocky soils, and frequent drought conditions. The campus may host more than 100,000 visitors on a home football game weekend.

University of Virginia Health System

At the University of Virginia Health System, grounds care is always an emergency. Exactly 28.3 acres of medical buildings, research facilities and academic and administrative facilities are nestled among 21 acres of trees and woody ornamentals, 34.3 acres of turf and 1.2 acres of flower beds. The landscape is ever-changing due to continually expanding facilities. A crew of only six full-timers and four temps must constantly relocate plant life and design/install new landscapes. Other duties include trash collection, graduation preparation, leaf/snow removal, mulching, mowing, pruning and edging. The crew recently came up with a novel idea for reducing string trimming: planting 30,000 ground cover plants and 29,000 bulbs.

Western Michigan University

Wanna spell loads of work? Try 30,000 students and an average snowfall of 73 in. That's what the grounds crew at Western Michigan University has to deal with. WMU was founded in 1903 on Prospect Hill overlooking downtown Kalamazoo. The campus eventually migrated west as new buildings and departments were expanded. In many locations on campus, the grounds crew tries to avoid mowing steep hills for safety reasons, but the hill near the Speech and Hearing Center alongside a city street is too visible to be left alone. Commemorative trees, which can be bought for $1,800, dot the campus. Landscape Services plants the tree, places a brass plaque and maintains the tree for one year.

Western Oregon University

The Hamersley Library was much needed by Western Oregon University, but, with over 80,000 square feet, it gave the grounds crew one more large area of intense landscape. A new irrigation system was installed along Stadium Drive, with the design and parts order being done by the grounds crew. Excavation of sidewalks, parking lot maintenance, litter pickup and helping set up events are all on the crew's chore list. The new Arbor Park apartments require extensive herbicide application and other maintenance. Landscape Maintenance Supervisor Kevin Hughes constantly checks the moisture levels of the sand base varsity football field.