California State University, Fresno
OP-9: Landscape Management

Grounds Department staff maintains 225 acres of campus landscapes. Excluded from this acreage are buildings, parking lots, roads, basins, and the 1011-acre University Agricultural Laboratory (Farm).

It is the goal of Facilities Management to implement IPM by focusing on long-term prevention or suppression of pests through accurate pest identification, by frequent monitoring for pest presence, by applying appropriate action levels, and by making the habitat less conducive to pests using sanitation and mechanical and physical controls. If the situation isn’t resolved by non-chemical controls, we then follow by use of least-toxic chemical control methods. Pesticides that are effective will be used in a manner that minimizes risks to people, property, and the environment, and only after other options have been shown ineffective.
These IPM principles and practices are combined to create our IPM Plan:
1. Pest identification. Regularly monitor buildings and grounds for the presence of pests. Understand the lifecycle of various classes of pests (weeds, invertebrate pests, vertebrate pests, disease).
2. Monitoring and assessing pest numbers and damage. Set guidelines (action thresholds) for when management action is needed.
3. Preventing pest problems. Eliminate or minimize conditions that are conducive to pest activity and proliferation.
4. Using a combination of cultural, biological, physical/mechanical, and chemical management tools for control of pests:
cultural practices - adjusting irrigation to minimize weed growth and installing drip irrigation on planters instead of conventional irrigation systems.
biological controls - allowing natural enemies to control pest populations and selecting plants suitable to our climate that are also pest resistant.
mechanical and physical methods - pulling and hoeing weeds instead of using chemicals, traps for rodent control, and mulch beds to retain moisture and weed suppression.
chemical control - chemicals are utilized only when all the above have been exhausted, starting with the least-toxic selective pesticide that will do the job and be the safest for other organisms and for air, soil, and water quality.
5. After action is taken, assess the effect of the pest control method used.

The use of climate appropriate plants is the preferred choice for all new landscapes. We select drought tolerant and native plant species whenever possible. All campus construction and new landscapes follow the campus tree and plant care plan and select plants from an approved list of plants developed by the campus in coordination with our campus Consulting Landscape Architect.

The Grounds Department has upgraded to a Motorola ICC centrally controlled irrigation system with radio frequency controllers located throughout campus. This system allows for accurate irrigation scheduling and adjustments to be made according to seasonal conditions as well as scheduled use of the irrigated areas. To date, over 95% of campus is under central control, reducing overwatering and related problems. Where applicable, irrigation systems have been retrofit to high-efficiency sprinklers and drip tubing, and plant material has been changed or removed to reduce the use of water.
While water reduction efforts are ongoing throughout campus, the projects that have been implemented since 2015 have resulted in a reduction to ALL water uses by 25% compared to the 2013 baseline.

The Grounds Department equips mowers with mulching blade decks, so grass clippings are left on the lawn to naturally decompose. All tree and shrub trimmings and leaves collected on campus are brought to our green waste yard and placed in roll-off bins. These picked up by our waste management contractor and the materials are processed at their composting facility. The campus receives back a portion of this compost to use as mulch. In non-planted areas of the landscapes, Grounds staff apply a thick layer of mulch or utilize a layer of decomposed granite as a groundcover to reduce weed pressure, reduce the use of herbicides, and conserve soil moisture for nearby trees.

Many of our campus trees (total of 6,025) serve to provide shade and windbreaks. There has been an emphasis to plant trees along walkways, on the southern exposure side of buildings, and to develop gathering spaces that are lined with trees. Many of our campus lawns are positioned in proximity to buildings to reduce heat islands.

The Grounds Department staff works closely with the Animal Science Department to allow for grazing of goats, sheep, and cattle on retention basins. This grazing provides feed for agriculture animals at the same time providing a mechanism for weed control without the use of pesticides and power-driven equipment. In the effort to reduce water use and provide a sustainable solution, we are systematically eliminating the small lawn strips and non-functional small lawn shapes and spaces and replacing with either ground cover plants, drought tolerant shrubs, decomposed granite, wood chips, concrete, rock, or pavers.