The hands behind the beauty

The facility workers in the landscaping department at the university do much more than just weed, plant flowers and tend to the grounds.

Steve Glass, the landscape manager, said that the 20 workers who were part of this department were responsible for everything outside.

"We paint handrails, clean the streets, rake the leaves, plant and prune the trees, cut the grass, everything," he said. "But, the majority of our time is spent picking up trash. Everyone is good at multitasking."

Glass said a lot was accomplished in the workers' 6:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. shift each day.

"We are constantly planting trees," he said. "We've planted 20 to 24 in the last few weeks alone, and probably about 72 so far this spring; everything from bald cypresses to pines to redbuds. We plant a lot more in the fall than the spring though."

Glass said that about 1,500 plants were purchased each spring and 1,000 were bought in the fall from a nursery in Tappahannock, Va.

"They are grown specifically for us," he said. "We get the summer annuals every April and winter pansies every October at a discount price because of the amount that we buy."

Glass, who has been in charge of the landscaping department since 1984, said before working at the university, he had worked for the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation overseeing all aspects of grounds maintenance.

During the winter, even though there are fewer plants to take care of, Glass said that there were still plenty of projects to do around campus.

"We had various jobs this past winter, such as constructing the disc golf course, raking the leaves, repairing the paths in the woods and removing the snow," he said. "We keep ourselves pretty busy."

Freshman Mariel Kush said that seeing all the flowers around campus always put her in a better mood.

"I was walking back to my dorm after a long day of classes and saw some daffodils by the deanery, the first flowers I'd seen since the beginning of the year," she said. "They instantly made me happier and more cheerful."

Kush said after all of the hard work that was put into making this campus look beautiful, the end result definitely did not go unnoticed.

"I appreciate everything they do to make this already gorgeous campus even better," she said.

Contact reporter Charlotte Brackett at charlotte.brackett@richmond.edu