NATIVE AND SUSTAINABLE

Student center landscaping pays homage to coastal plain, conservation

This zelkova is one of 25 trees that were relocated rather than cut down during the construction of the new student center.

While East Carolina University’s new student center building has received much well-deserved attention, the grounds surrounding it are just as creative and innovative.

Though the turf and some plants are dormant, camellias are blooming, and numerous other plants are set to take off in the coming weeks.

“We always try to design for all four seasons,” said John Gill, ECU director of grounds.

But that’s not all there is to the center’s landscape design. Less visible is how it adheres to the university’s sustainability goals. Underneath the large turf area between the center and library – where students and others will gather to watch the 24-by-42-foot Pirate Vision screen – is a giant cistern. It collects water from rain and runoff then dispenses it through drip irrigation lines to the many ornamental plant beds on the property.

“We want to keep as much of that water on site as possible instead of sending it into the city system and eventually into the Tar River,” Gill said.

In addition, 25 trees were dug and relocated from the site, many of them “trustees trees” that had been planted along Wendell Smiley Way, which no longer exists due to the construction. A tree-spade capable of moving trees up to 12 inches in diameter handled the largest ones, and ECU grounds staff hand-dug the smaller ones, Gill said. Trees that were too large to be moved were cut and hauled to the Pitt County transfer station on Allen Road, where they were ground into mulch. Some of that mulch might find its way back onto campus, Gill said.

“We’re real proud of that,” Gill said of the fact all trees were either moved or recycled.

Durham-based landscape architecture firm Surface 678 designed the landscaping layout and specified plants. Gill said the theme pays homage to the coastal plain. Thus, the site features many native plants such as muhlygrass and North Carolina’s famed longleaf pines – trees that are notoriously difficult to grow in nurseries.

And plants such as soft-caress mahonias, which have golden blooms in the spring, and dwarf lorapetalum, which has purple foliage year-round, will show off ECU’s official colors.

Sodded turfgrasses are hybrid bermudagrass in sunny areas and zoysiagrass in shady spots. Making sure those areas are in top condition will be John Barwick, who has a background in turf management and joined ECU in the past year.

Altogether, the student center project comprises 220,000 square feet of interior space, about seven acres of land and cost $122 million. It includes a 720-space parking deck and a chiller plant.

John Gill, ECU director of grounds, discusses the large cistern beneath the grassy area north of the student center that collects rainwater and reuses it to irrigate plant beds.