Western Washington University
OP-9: Landscape Management

Campus buildings are included in the IPM area above, since we use IPM for all pest control, both interior and exterior

100 percent of the grounds on campus are covered by an IPM plan. Chemical herbicides and insecticides are not used on campus landscaping. As required by Washington state law, all WWU gardeners go through IPM training to earn a Pesticide Application License. When the university determines that an area should be maintained at a higher standard or more frequently manicured, herbicides and chemical fertilizers may be necessary to achieve the desired goal.

WWU plants many native species such as vine-maple, red alder, western white pine, Douglas fir, Western hemlock, and the Western red cedar. Plants are matched with an area according to sun and wind exposure, water availability, and space to grow relative to adjacent species. When choosing plants for landscaping the gardening department will take a holistic approach to make sure the right plant is in the right place. Hardy plants with good drought tolerance will often be chosen over plants requiring more maintenance. Usually the design ends up including a mixture of natives, native-varieties, and hardy exotics. Tree preservation is a high priority. Contractors and university staff are held to high standards in this respect. We try to replace each tree that is lost from disease, damage or removal from a construction project.
WWU composts and reuses all vegetative debris generated on campus, thereby maintaining the natural nutrient cycle. Steep slopes are protected from erosion with mulch or vegetation.

WWU maintains the natural hydrology of the campus with biofiltration ponds on the south side of campus. These ponds filter the turbidity as well as significantly reducing the quantities of phosphorus and other toxins in the water. Water infiltrates in these ponds to maintain natural hydrology of the basin.

WWU generates very little grass trimmings. 90 percent of the lawns are mulched to limit the amount of trimmings produced. The remaining trimmings are composted but our compost is made up primarily of leaves from campus. All woody debris is composted at an nearby university-owned compost lot.

The WWU grounds crew has steered away from the use of more harmful ice melts like salt and urea to less harmful products like Calcium Chloride and Magnesium Chloride. WWU pre-applies ice melt before conditions reach freezing temperatures. The pre-application helps to weaken the ice-to-surface bond which in turn reduces the total amount of ice-melt used after freezing conditions have set in.