There’s a lot that goes into keeping BYU-Idaho’s campus beautiful. From the grass, to the trees, to the flowers, many people work year round to bring nature into our campus.
Andrea Hudson is one of about 80 students who help with groundskeeping, and she said it’s a group effort.
“Another crew plants the flowers, we pull the weeds, we make the tree rings circular, so then another crew will come in and take care of the tree. So there are several crews that work together to make the campus beautiful,” Hudson said.
Hudson focuses on mowing, which needs to be done weekly to keep up with the 95 acres of grass on campus.
According to Erik Kerr, the campus arborist, there are 6,000 trees on campus with the oldest one being about 100 years old!
Eleven grounds supervisors tend to different areas of campus. They take care of grass, flowers, plants and trees. There are more student employees in the spring semester than others, but there is still plenty of work to do in the winter semester.
“Most of the time we call the students in at 4 a.m. in the winter time and by 7 a.m. all the snow is cleared off the sidewalks and the sidewalks have been treated for ice,” said Jaron MIller, a grounds supervisor.
To keep it clear of snow, students put ice melt on the sidewalks and shovel stairs and entry ways.
The landscape designer, Frederick Haux, handles the flowers on campus. The process begins with growing the seeds of the bedding plants in the greenhouses. After the plants have time to grow, they’re given to other grounds supervisors to be planted on campus. There are about 12,000 flowers on campus, which Haux said are chosen with Rexburg’s climate in mind.
“I try to choose flowers that will handle that cold and handle the temperature differences because we have really cold temperatures and really warm temperatures, so I try to choose from plants that will handle those changes. Petunias is one of them,” Haux said.
Huax feels the flowers add something special to campus, especially after winter. 
“I enjoy it because it brings a beauty to the campus that sometimes after winter it seems really gray and dull. I get excited seeing the flowers and the different colors and changes on campus,” Haux said.