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from the issue of January 26, 2006
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Weather pushes landscape services into spring mode
BY TROY FEDDERSON, UNIVERSITY COMMUNICATIONS
Spring is taking root - at least on work schedules tacked to Landscape Services bulletin boards.
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| | | MULCHING WEATHER - Landscape services employees Joe Ciserella (left) and Joyce Lawson spread mulch in the Enright Garden, east of Oldfather Hall, Monday afternoon. Warm, dry weather has allowed Landscape Services to begin spring work, such as adding mulch. Photo by Troy Fedderson/University Communications.
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Buoyed by daytime temperatures positioned above the freezing mark every day since returning from holiday break, Landscape Services personnel have swapped snow shovels and blades for spades and rakes as they begin to prepare UNL's two campuses for spring blooms.
"I've been the City Campus landscape manager for 25 years and I've never had a winter like this one," Kirby Baird said. "In the past, we've had our warm days. But never a period of warm days this long before."
Between Jan. 1 and Jan. 22, the average daily high in Lincoln has been 48 degrees, with a high of 69 (Jan. 15) and a low of 34 (Jan. 20). As of Jan. 22, 10 days have highs over 50 degrees, a mark forecast to be eclipsed again this week.
The lack of snowfall and abundance of above normal temperatures have allowed landscape services crews to expand past seasonal tree trimmings into spreading mulch, preparing flower beds, pruning shrubs, striping pavement and even moving dirt.
"I was hauling dirt last week over by Husker Village and I realized I've never done soil work in January before," Baird said. "It's not something we normally do because the ground is usually frozen."
The retreat of topsoil frost has allowed landscape services to install a number of new parking and building signs across campus - a project normally reserved for spring.
"We are way ahead of schedule at this point," said Eileen Bergt, director of Landscape Services. "We're doing things we normally do in March and April because it is so nice."
Bergt ranked pavement repairs as one of the biggest beneficiaries of the sunny days.
"Fixing pavement holes is something we can do in the winter, but the repairs don't hold very well," Bergt said. "But, because it is dry and the pavement has dried out, we are able to fix them easier and do a better job."
While the weather has trimmed the need for scarves, hats and mittens, the warm, dry spell may require landscape services workers to take up hoses and sprinklers ahead of schedule.
"It is pretty dry out there," Baird said, indicating that landscape services may start watering evergreens - which are year-round moisture users - as soon as this week. "If we don't have spring rains, we will be spending more time watering. But, I'm not complaining - I'll take this kind of unbelievable winter anytime."
And, spring chores accomplished through the winter will also help landscape services prepare for a series of upcoming projects. That list includes work at the North Stadium improvement project, the area between Behlen and Richards halls, and around the Hardin Center.
"We always have a lot of projects that take off in the spring," Bergt said. "And, being able to get out and do some of this work in the winter will help us concentrate on projects when spring officially arrives."
GO TO: ISSUE OF JANUARY 26
NEWS HEADLINES FOR JANUARY 26
Weather pushes landscape services into spring mode
Combined Campaign charts continued growth
Gift forges largest Ag Fellowship
Museum offers fossil days, disaster events
Series outlines ways to better serve students
Campus research helps develop new decorative millets
Engineering opens year with new lab celebration
FROM THE ARCHIVES
Huskers tops in Big 12 exhausted eligibility rate
Publication features UNL bio laboratory
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