Old Dominion University
OP-10: Landscape Management

The entire ODU campus grounds are managed with IPM. Specifically, ODU uses a multi-tiered approach towards grounds maintenance involving Cultural, Chemical, Mechanical, and Biological controls. There is not a singular document or IPM plan for the campus at this time. ODU staff is guided by the principles of an IPM approach and utilize cultural, biological, and mechanical methods to keep plants healthy. When it is necessary to use a chemical product, the staff chooses the most environmentally friendly product know to be available. ODU does not practice ‘blanket sprays’ which are indiscriminate pesticide treatments. ODU follows a Nutrient Management Plan written by a certified technician through the Virginia Department of Conservation Resources and all the pesticide applicators are Virginia Department of Agriculture Certified.

The Grounds Division provides a planned program of grounds care campus-wide in order maintain a neat and clean environment. Whether its mowing grass and trimming in July or shoveling snow and spreading ice melt in January, you will find the Grounds team outside taking care of the University's properties.

Native plantings have been in use at Old Dominion University since it’s inception as a public institution. A person walking through the more historic locations on campus will find a plethora of native plant species ranging from the tallest trees to beautiful flowering shrubs. As one enters the landscapes of ODU’s more recent additions, they will see the use of native plantings remains an integral part of our landscape designs. With each year that passes ODU is finding more improved and innovative ways to apply our native plantings in the form of rain gardens, water retention areas, and around the footprints educational facilities. Native plantings are no longer being planted solely for their inherent beauty, they are being used for carbon storage, storm water filtration, and various other ways which help ODU further it’s commitment to a sustainable campus. Prioritizing the use of Native Plants Native plants will play a roll a role of varying size in all of our landscape designs. How we arrive at the decision of which plants to use in a given landscape is often a long planning process that is takes many factors into consideration. Some of these factors include economic feasibility, environmental concerns, maintenance concerns, function of the landscape, aesthetic value, and geographic location. The planning process will generally undergo various revisions until arriving at what we feel is the best landscape design we can deliver. Old Dominion University sits between two of Hampton Roads most beautiful estuaries, The Elizabeth River and the Lafayette River. In landscapes along these rivers native plants receive top priority. Having native plants in these riparian zones provides a natural appearance to the landscape. We use native plantings here to help us visually soften well developed shores while providing natural habitat for the many species of fauna who call the rivers home. Along the interior of ODU there is a mixture of many native and non-native species. The bulk of our property at ODU is considered urban. Roadways, sidewalks, and buildings create a network of environmental conditions which can often be harsh and intolerable for many species of plants. Native plants are not always inherently adaptable to such conditions. In these areas we will use the native plants species which have been proven to withstand an oppressive city environment, but sometimes we must look outside of our native plant palette to find species which will grow and flourish. Still, there are many native plants which find a home amongst our city infrastructure. As public awareness of environmental conditions grows, so does ODU’s knowledge of what we can do to contribute towards making the world a better place. One example of this would be our rain gardens. ODU currently has two rain gardens with more on the way. Inside these rain gardens one will find a landscape design dominated by native plants. Yes, there are a few non-native species here, but the vast majority of the plantings are indeed native. The use of native plants in these rain gardens not only enhances the natural attractiveness of campus, but assists ODU in cleaning storm water as it runs off of impervious roof tops and sidewalks. Partnerships with Native Plants Old Dominion University has worked in partnerships on various projects to increase our use of native plantings, both on campus and within the community. In the past year alone ODU has worked with the City of Norfolk, the Elizabeth River Project, Virginia Master Gardeners, Dominion Virginia Power, and the Chesapeake Bay Foundation. Relationships continue to develop and new project ideas are evolving all the time. As ODU works to integrate the natural world with the urban environment, we must also work to incorporate local institutions and organization for the common goal of sustainability. Two of ODU’s most recent examples of native plant projects would be the power line project at 47th st and the future Community Garden site at the far west end of 49th st. In each case ODU paired with the Elizabeth River Project to acquire and install all native plantings. In these two very different ecosystems the use of native plantings helps ODU meet it sustainability goals, while providing a natural background for visitors and residents alike. Native Plants on Campus The following is a list of Native Plantings which can be found at ODU: Trees: Taxodium disticum -- Bald Cypress Quercus phellos -- Willow Oak Quercus laurifolia -- Laurel Oak Quercus alba -- White Oak Quercus bicolor -- Swamp White Oak Quercus falcata -- Southern Red Oak Quercus nigra -- Water Oak Quercus palustris -- Pin Oak Quercus rubra -- Northern Red Oak Tillia americana -- American Basswood Amalanchier spp. -- Serviceberry Cercis canadensis -- Redbud Chionanthus virginicus -- Fringetree Cornus florida -- Flowering Dogwood Ilex opaca -- American Holly Ilex vomitoria -- Yaupon Holly Magnolia virginiana -- Sweet Bay Morus rubra -- Mulberry Ostrya virginiana v. -- Hophornbeam Acer rubrum -- Red Maple Aesculus flava -- Yellow Buckeye Betula nigra -- River Birch Juniperus virginiana -- Red Cedar Liquidambar styraciflua -- Sweetgum Liriodendron tulipfera -- Tulip Poplar Nyssa sylvatica -- Black Tupelo Pinus strobus -- White Pine Pinus taeda -- Loblolly Pine Pinus palustris -- Longleaf Pine Plantanus occidentalis -- American Sycamore Prunus serotina -- Black Cherry Robinia pseudoacacia -- Black Locust Shrubs: Hamamelis virginiana -- Witch Hazel Ilex glabra -- Inkberry Itea virginica -- Virginia Willow Myrica cerifera -- Waxmyrtle Rhododendron spp. -- Azalea Baccharis halmifolia -- Groundsel Tree Rosa rugosa -- Beach Rose Herbaceous: Rudbeckia hirta -- Black-eyed Susan Hibiscus moscheutos -- Eastern Rosemallow Woodwardia virginica -- Virginia Chain Fern Silene virginica -- Fire Pink Veronicstrum virginicum -- Culver’s Root Yucca filimentosa -- Common Yucca Rexia virginica -- Meadow Beauty Mertensia virginica -- Bluebells Chrysogonum virginianum -- Green and Gold

ODU does not perform composting in the now more popular sense of the word; e.g. using decomposing food waste and garden clipping to make soil. ODU does however perform composting on a regular basis in the sense that we use decaying matter to rejuvenate the soils. All of the mowing equipment in the Grounds Department uses what is called a ‘recycler deck’. You may be familiar with concept of the weekend warrior mowing their lawn and then raking all of the clippings into trash bags for the garbage pick-up. With a recycling deck, all of that leaf material is kept in a vacuum within the cutting blades, just long enough to be diced into little pieces. These diced pieces of turf grass are then deposited back onto the surface soil immediately after cutting by the mower itself. The grass clippings have a very small nitrogen ratio that can be absorbed into the soil and taken up by healthy growing turf grass. ODU occasionally participates in donating some of their tree limb cuttings to the VA Zoo. Certain tree species, such as the crepe myrtle, make an excellent food source for elephants and other large mammals. This is really an ‘as needed’ program upon request from the zoo, but is another example of outside the box thinking which takes us further towards achieving our sustainability goals. ODU does currently take the wood chips from the City of Norfolk and from regional tree service providers to use as mulch. As city trees are removed or pruned, those limbs get put through what is known as a wood chipper. The result is often a quality much that can then be put down in the landscape for decorative effect. Currently, ODU works with the City of Norfolk to accept some of their wood chips. In a similar fashion the wood chip results from all tree removals and pruning services performed on campus by tree service providers are subsequently reused as mulch in our landscapes. ODU lies within a city district. The large scale in-house composting of food waste from our cafeterias and restaurants make seem like a great idea, but would quickly become a public health catastrophe as rats, mice, opossums, and other scavenging animals discovered its whereabouts. This is problem we seek to solve, as technology provides better options for containment and recyclability in-house composting could become a reality one day.

Bermuda sod is used throughout the majority of the campus due to its ability to survive during the drought months.

Nutrient management planning seeks to address nonpoint source pollution by reducing the potential for runoff and leaching of nutrients. Our management plan identifies the areas on campus that receive low phosphate or NO phosphate fertilizers.

In general it takes about two years with irrigation for plants to get established. Once established the irrigation is turned off except when landscape plant material are threatened to die. Most Bermuda lawns go dormant in extreme drought but recover once there is rainfall. Irrigation systems are equipped with rain gages that will not allow the system to come on when there is adequate rain fall

Snow and Ice removal on campus is primarily a manual task. In the event of snow and ice removal, all of Facilities Management Staff is deployed with an array of snow shovels, power sweepers, snow plows, and ice melt spreaders to clean up the accumulation as soon as possible. Our primary agent for ice melt is based upon Potassium Chloride. Potassium Chloride is a common chemical compound used in ice melts and is considered to be ‘vegetation friendly’; it does not present some of the environmental issues seen with sodium chloride (true road salt has a negative effect when introduced to estuaries) or with calcium chloride (effective ice melt which has a negative stress upon evergreen plants). ODU has experimented with liquid de-ice products which were effective and do not require a combustion driven machine to apply them, however these products are too costly to deploy on a regular basis so their use is limited.