Saint Mary's College of California
OP-9: Landscape Management

We have included all land on our campus except impervious surfaces. All landscape, including the hundreds of acres of grassy hillside are managed. For example, every summer the College contracts with an eco-friendly goat grazing business to clear weeds and fire-prone underbrush.

The vast majority of our 420 acre campus is managed with organic landscape management practices. The only exceptions are a few sports fields and lawn spaces (about 5 hectares). Our Grounds Team manages the remaining campus land without the use inorganic fertilizer, chemical pesticides, herbicides or fungicides.

All land on our campus is managed with integrated pest management (IPM) practices. Our Grounds Team carefully considers all available pest control techniques when deciding how to effectively manage pest populations while minimizing risks to human health, non-target organisms and the environment. Saint Mary's uses a variety of techniques such as biological control, habitat manipulation, modification of cultural practices and the use of pest and disease resistant plants. Our Grounds Manager constantly monitors our fields, landscapes and grasslands to identify pest presence so that our Grounds Team can employ the best, most ecologically-sound management practice for the given pest problem. Additionally, Saint Mary's has installed several owl boxes across campus for IPM purposes, and keeps up-to-date on the ecological practices by attending workshops, like the recent AASHE workshop on "A Transition to Organic, Ecological Landscapes for Campuses"

In addition to the use of organic and integrated pest management techniques, Saint Mary's Grounds Team installs drought-tolerant and native landscaping whenever possible. One example of a drought-tolerant installation on campus can be found here: https://www.stmarys-ca.edu/saint-mary%E2%80%99s-new-california-native-plant-garden-a-multi-purpose-eden

Saint Mary’s College has installed several rainwater filtering systems; each consists of the following:
• a storm drain system which collects runoff from impervious areas and conveys it to
• a vegetated bioretention filter; and
• an outlet structure which connects the bioretention filter to the outlet pipe leading to the storm drain system.

Additionally, a central irrigation system was installed in 2018. The system includes efficient irrigation application technologies, such as drip irrigation, as well as incorporates data from two different on-campus weather stations to tailor irrigation schedules to plant water needs.

Finally, whenever possible our Grounds Team uses native and drought-tolerant landscaping to minimize the use of water.

SMC mulches green waste and reuses it onsite to reduce erosion and water consumption.

Our Grounds Team has installed the trees and shrubs on several roads and areas throughout campus that could benefit from natural windbreaks. One example is the planting of a row of California redwoods that act as a windbreak for our rugby field.

As stated previously, Saint Mary's employs IPM practices on all managed land, uses native and drought-tolerant plants, incorporates mulching into landscaping, minimizes water use through water efficient technologies, and uses goats to graze large acres of hilly grassland.