Fertilizing flower beds necessary despite smell

By Bobby Philbrook

A funny smell wafted across campus last week.

"Like fish biscuits or something," said junior Tim Chang, making a reference to the new season of "Lost." Other students had their own complaints .

Last week, the landscaping division of the facilities department completed its annual fertilizing of flower beds across campus. The stench was particularly strong as the compost began to fester in the warm autumn weather. Highs reached over 80 degrees during the latter half of last week.

"The odor made me physically ill, especially over by O'Connor. Why do they have to do this?" asked Reese Benjamin, a sophomore business major.

Despite the California climate, flowers, shrubs and other foliage around campus need tending in order to grow. At Santa Clara, a team of 13 landscapers keep things looking aesthetically pleasing for faculty, staff and students.

Landscaping team leader Chris Young emphasized the hard work his squad puts in during this important time of year.

"I don't think people understand the effort that goes into this," Young said. "The gardeners pull this off almost miraculously. When I first came to the university, it used to take the gardeners three to four weeks just to complete the planting process. Now they have 7,200 more flowers to plant and they complete that task in less than two weeks."

Men donned in red uniforms could be seen shoveling compost out of their electric vehicles and into flower beds from the main entrance of Santa Clara to Mission Gardens, and everywhere in between -- even outside Benson Memorial Center.

"That about did it for me," said Benjamin. "I'm all hungry, I get my food to go, walk out of Benson, and then bam. That smell hit me like a sack of door knobs and I completely lost my appetite."

Young acknowledges the odor, but, after doing this job for many years, he wants students to understand it could be worse.

"This compost has been used for the last four years. It's a bit stinkier than others we've used, but not nearly as bad as other types," said Young. "It sure is the best I've seen in the 19 years I've been here, as far as benefit to the flowers."

Associate director of undergraduate admissions Miranda Niemoth frequently flies around the United States to speak with high school seniors about the university, and has heard both parents and students marvel at the campus's botanical beauty.

"When I ask potential students in places like Portland, where people haven't seen a lot of palm trees and sunshine, what they think about their visit to our campus," said Niemoth, "the first thing they always say is how beautiful it is. It's not the reason why students come here, but it definitely is a factor."

Youg said the compost is donated to the university by a Santa Clara alumnus, Greg Ryan. "He has donated 50 yards each for the past four years. In the past I would pay approximately $30 per cubic yard for compost, so this is a nice little savings to the university."

Junior Katy Powers said she wasn't impressed by fertilizing in general, but this method is better than the alternative, she said.

"Basically, adding a ton of nitrogen to the soil is never good, but at least the compost they use is somewhat natural. Lots of places use bottles of 100 percent nitrogen," Powers explained after visually inspecting a mound of compost. "Those chemicals then run into the water supply and eventually mess up the bay."

Between fertilizing and planting flowers, Young considers this the most demanding part of the year for the gardeners. By the end of November, he says they will have planted 33,600 flowers and fertilized every bed.

"It's a great team effort and I am very proud of them," Young said.

Contact Bobby Philbrook at (408) 551-1918 or rphilbrook@scu.edu.