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Horticulture is defined as
the “science and art of
growing plants.” The
Facilities Horticulture
program at Rutgers
focuses on providing a
landscaped campus environment that
is safe and
aesthetically pleasing
to the University community.
With an
experienced,
professional staff,
Horticulture, Landscape
and Grounds Maintenance work
closely together to develop
requirements for
appropriate design and
maintenance strategies that
will maintain the aesthetic
appearance, cleanliness
and safety
of the university’s
campus grounds.
Responsible for
more than
5000 acres of
Rutgers grounds in
central, north,
and south New
Jersey, the Horticulture
office is challenged
to identify plant material that
can be successfully
grown in the
state’s various climate zones.
The university’s healthy plant
environment provides color
and texture to the
grounds and provides positive
environmental impacts
such as reducing
soil erosion,
stabilizing air
temperature
extremes and
regeneration of
life sustaining
oxygen. Every effort
is made to utilize native plant
species and plant species with less
demanding cultural
requirements to conserve
the grounds budget costs as well.
The Horticulture office
is at the
forefront of two
very special initiatives. College
Avenue campus is home to one of the
largest remaining
populations of native
American Elm trees.
The Horticulture
office has
devised a successful
maintenance plan to keep these
beautiful trees alive.
More recently, in an
effort to promote a more sustainable
environment, appropriate
areas of the
campuses have been identified for
the restoration of naturalized
meadows. The university’s grounds
staff have reduced or
eliminated regular mowing
practices and manicured
lawn care to permit
these areas to
regenerate with grass
and plant species native to their
location. In addition,
re-forestation planting of over 2500
trees and shrubs is planned
for the New Brunswick area
campuses.
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