Hope College
OP-9: Landscape Management

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We utilize organic fertilizers and weed control on some landscape beds and turf and hardscapes.
We mulch 100 percent of the leaves on campus into the turf and beds

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We try to use native plant species as they will fit site conditions that replicate the native habitat. We do not plant native species to this region if the site has been altered to the point it is no longer a native habitat.

PLANTING BED MANAGEMENT
Buy bedding plants from local growers using site-specific plants and shrubs
Use perennials and grasses that need reduced care and water
Mulch with native hardwood bark

Storm water drainage for all new buildings are handled by filtration systems including underground retention and rain gardens.
All new parking lots are constructed with porous pavements to minimize runoff.
The creek at the east end of campus is maintained in a natural state with woodlands surrounding out. Property in the area of the creek does not drain directly into the creek.
Uses water management software and monitoring systems for irrigation and employs a full time irrigation technician.
Worked with the Holland Board of Public Works (HPBW) to install a gray water line for use in our core campus to reduce the filtration level for irrigation.

The Hope grounds department composts landscape waste, using the end result to create a compost tea for fertilizer. We use the soil for tree planting and turf renovation operations. We allow our grass clippings to decompose in the turf. Any landscape waste we do not compost onsite is removed by a compost company and taken to their compost facility.

Do not bag clippings from mowing.
Mulch 100% of leaves into the turf and only remove leaves when necessary.
There is a reduced mowing frequency on lower priority sites.
Collect cultural care waste from pruning and bed clean up for composting.
Compost grass clippings from the athletic fields on site.
For the past few academic years we have also allowed for our students living in our cottages/apartments to opt-in for a food waste compost program. This food waste does not go with our industrially composted dining services material, but rather is collected by the physical plant team and added to the campus landscape compost pile. https://hope.edu/offices/physical-plant/sustainability/composting.html
Since 2018 coffee grounds have also been collected from the Cup & Chaucer Coffee Shop in Van Wylen Library and added to the campus compost pile.

In 2016 Hope installed a green roof on DeWitt Cultural and Student Center and in 2019 Hope installed a 2nd green roof LEED Certified Campus Ministries Building.

The grounds department at Hope uses brooms and shovels, and plows walkways more often during snowfall to reduce salt usage.
Plow vehicles use effective snow plow blades and snow brushes to reduce salt use on sidewalks.
We also use a calibrated drop salt spreader that has reduced our salt usage by about 20%.

"Hope’s grounds management team operates with an environmental action plan that includes considerations ranging from how the college stores pesticides and fuel, to how equipment is washed, to the presence of buffer strips along drains. The college, which has more than 500 documented trees in its central campus, also has a campus tree-care plan, and among its efforts focused on the college’s trees has made a tradition of planting trees during each Earth Week and Arbor Day."

Hope is a member of the Arbor Day Foundation and in 2019 we became a member of Tree Campus USA.

In 2019 Hope received funding from the "Michigan Arbor Day Alliance Tree Planting Grant."

Two staff from the Hope College grounds team and the Director for the Office of Sustainability serve on the award winning Holland in Bloom committee. https://www.cityofholland.com/837/Holland-in-Bloom
http://hollandannualreport.com/holland-brings-home-awards-at-america-in-bloom-symposium/

ALI JESKY OF HOPE STAFF HELPS HOLLAND HIGHLIGHT ITS OZ HISTORY: June 2019
https://hope.edu/news/2019/campus-life/ali-jesky-of-hope-staff-helps-holland-highlight-its-oz-history.html

Other notable stories:
October 2019: Hope College Receives national Honor Award for exceptional grounds maintenance in the 2019 Green Star Awards competition of the Professional Grounds Management Society (PGMS)
https://hope.edu/news/2019/campus-life/hope-receives-national-award-for-exceptional-grounds-management.html

Hope received statewide recognition for its environmental stewardship through its grounds management practices with certification from the Michigan Turfgrass Environmental Stewardship Program in 2014. For more information visit: http://www.michigan.gov/mdard/0,4610,7-125-1599-216431--,00.html and https://www.mtesp.org/