Mission Statement:  Provide a safe, clean and asthetically pleasing environment for the Saint Mary's College Community.

                                                            Gardening Links:

 

the sunken garden in springBeal Botanic Garden at MSU

Organic Gardening

Greening the Bend

Roseland Garden Center

South Bend Parks and Recreation

Planet Natural

New York Botanical Garden

 

Meet the staff:

  • Vincent Crayton
  • Christopher Egan
  • Mark Kubacki - Director
  • Kade Maggart
  • Tod Moorhead
  • Walter Singleton

Grounds Facts:

  • The Avenue: In the summer of 1855, when the Sisters of the Holy Cross settled here at the current location, Mother Angela Gillespie, CSC was then the director of Saint Mary's Academy and oversaw the planning of the new campus site with her stepfather, William Phelan. One of the most important features of the design was The Avenue, a road lined with maple and sycamore trees. In the early 1920's, the rutted dirt road saw its first paving and in 1931 the sidewalks were added. Alumna, poet and College president Sister M. Madeleva Wolff, CSC wrote a poem to tribute The Avenue called "Old Soldiers" the following is a portion of that poem:   

          "Look at this avenue. Do you not love it,

          This regiment of trees in ranks of fours

          Marching abreast, maples and sycamores?"

  • In 1952 Sister Madeleva brought European Beech tree seedlings from Boston. In 1954 the trees were 10 inches high, and in 1984 they were approximately 45 feet high. These trees are still alive and thriving on campus today at various locations, including: three that are just north of the rock garden, west of Lake Marian bridge and one at the southeast corner of Lake Marian. In 1981 "offspring" or seedlings from these Beech trees were planted on campus and can still be found on the north side of Spes Unica Hall in the lawn between the road and the parking lot, on the southeast corner of the greenhouse, the south side of Madeleva in the big field and on the north and south side of Dalloways.
  • The grounds department maintains and mows over 75 acres of turf on campus.
  • On average the grounds department plants over 3,000 tulip and daffodil bulbs in the fall, 54 flats of annual flowers and 1,000 half gallon assorted poted annuals in the spring.
  • In the winter of 2014-2015 the department applied over 5 tons of rock salt to the campus sidewalks and 2 tons of calcium chloride to the stairs and entrances to help battle the ice and snow.