University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire
OP-9: Landscape Management

UWEC Buildings and sections along the river that run through campus, along with research stations, are excluded from management.

154.2 Acres (Fried -Sarona Woods/Washburn County Land)

72.6 Acres (Washburn County Land)

118.2 Acres (Barron Biological Research Station)

Minimal maintenance is done to the areas of Putnam Park and Putnam Prairie. These areas are maintained to have open access to trails and vehicle accessibility on Putnam Drive. This includes clearing snow from the drive but no salt or de-icing products are used. Branch and tree removal is done on a per need bases within Putnam Park only if posing a safety hazard or blocking trails and roadway. There is invasive species eradication done as time permits- with mechanical removal of plants such as buckthorn, wild parsnip, and others. This includes both Putnam Park and Prairie. **We do use spot spray treatment on buckthorn, black locust, honeysuckle, thistle, spotted knapweed, burdock, etc. in the prairie and Putnam Park. It is the only chance we have at keeping things under control. Though minimally managed we do not have anything managed completely organically.

UWEC maintains over 300 acres of turf and landscape areas, athletic and intramural fields including planting beds, prairie areas, an arboretum and also including hardscape areas such as parking lots, sidewalks, streets and trails.

UWEC’s environmental initiatives and IPM (integrated pest management) include specific practices for the different areas of campus. This includes manual weed pulling in landscaping beds with minimal use of target herbicide and insecticides, use of native plants for strategic areas, composting tea applications, biological turf management and many other practices that help minimize chemical applications across campus. UWEC also utilizes smart water irrigation practices that include weather and moisture monitoring systems for irrigated turf and landscape areas, updated mowing practices to limit weed production, the use of permeable pavers where appropriate, bioswales, and other environmental initiatives.

Native plants including grasses, shrubs and trees are used as the primary focus of landscape plantings. The mature and established trees located around campus, including the Arboretum, have become an iconic treasure of campus and are routinely inspected and maintenance to ensure health and safety. UWEC is a certified Tree Campus of Higher Education and has a Tree Advisory Committee that meet each year to provide guidance for future planning, review the comprehensive tree plan, the education of the campus community and the development of connectivity to the greater Eau Claire community.

UWEC’s plant stewardship also includes the use of native planting selections and stormwater run-off management in designs throughout the campus and featured in our Landscape Master Plan. This includes a number of bioswales around lower campus by Davies Center, use of prairie plantings around the Amphitheatre, and the use of low-maintenance plants in the rooftop garden. UWEC’s Landscape master plan goes look to foster environmental stewardship through design, construction and maintenance practices. All new buildings, parking lot and infrastructure projects include stormwater management bioswales to hold and clean stormwater onsite. This includes the Centennial building, Welcome Center Garfield Avenue, The Suites, and the following restructured parking lots: Fine Arts/ HSS, Water Street, Towers, Hibbard Nursing, Phillips, and Welcome Center.

The campus has installed several rain gardens and retention ponds throughout campus to allow storm water infiltration. A series of bioswales were installed around lower campus to ensure water management to the nearby Chippewa River. Also, with the updated landscape and building design at Davies Center, retention ponds were created to hold runoff for the parking lots and the building’s hardscape areas to prevent overflow into Little Niagara, the nearby stream. The parking lots also included vegetative swales filled with native trees, ornamental grasses and flowering perennials to capture and filter stormwater. A rooftop garden was installed around an outdoor terrace area to also help secure rain runoff and provide filtration to Little Niagara.

Most lawns are mowed with mulching mowers to reduce grass clippings. When clippings are picked up (athletic fields) they, along with leaf litter, leaves and other herbaceous material are composted on campus.

All trees and plant material from pruning and clean-up projects are broken down and composted at a nearby private property that utilizes the material for composting. This collaboration provides an opportunity for our waste disposal and supports an effort by local clubs to utilize nearby plant material to enhance their site.

We salvaged hardscape products such as old boulders from tearing down buildings and have used them in several campus landscaping projects around campus. We’ve reallocated materials as needed with updated campus design including digging up and splitting perennials, ornamental grasses and shrubs and trees.

When building renovations and updates take place, placement of evergreen and shade trees for lowering heating and cooling costs is evaluated and included in landscaping plans. Foundation plantings for stormwater and gutter run-off is also incorporated into landscape designs when possible.

We also try to use primarily native plantings in our campus landscapes when possible. If not available or appropriate for specific situation, we try to use hardy plant material sourced from local greenhouses. By installing ‘right plant, right place’, we limit the amount of labor, gas-powered maintenance equipment and other landscape supplies needed to maintain a safe and beautiful landscape design.

UWEC began using brine on walks and roadways in 2015 to reduce the amount of sand/salt usage. This has helped with the amount of material used on the hills and limits some of the run-off to the nearby Chippewa River and Little Niagra creek. Due to a more aggressive plowing schedule and better snow removal equipment, the campus has reduced it's salt/sand usage.

UWEC also began utilizing composting tea starting in 2014, which helps ensure proper nutrients for the planting beds, enhances the annual planting areas and also limits the amount of synthetic fertilizers needed for the planting bed areas.