Summer Blog - July 1, 2018

Tobias E.

Last week was climbing into 40°C, so we knew this week we would be seeing the same. At the beginning of the season, we went through heat stress training which allows us to properly identify signs of heat exhaustion. This knowledge enabled us to recognize the necessity for water breaks throughout the day, allowing us to work through the heat in a safe manner. 

But our team members weren’t the only ones feeling the heat; the plants all around campus felt the rising temperatures. 

We made nearly daily use of the tractor & water tanker. The blue tint of the water is from the 20-20-20 fertilization used on campus. This allows for a balanced delivery of nitrogen (needed for healthy foliage growth), phosphorus (needed for strong root and flower development) and potassium (for general resiliency) to all the plants on campus.  With the diversity of garden beds around many populated areas on campus, parking the water tanker in safe areas was a challenge. The goal was to get as close to the target area as possible while minimizing impact on the surrounding traffic. The pylons around the water tanker were essential to ensure safety while moving around the tank.

One of the newly planted garden beds we set up was across from R2 Residence. Over the summer months, Fanshawe residences are used as hotels for various events. This week, Rowing Canada was visiting, so preparation of the grounds was necessary to maintain the pristine reputation of the grounds.  When we began, the bed was filled with hostas and mostly weeds, but upon completion, we planted a Redbud and a Beech tree, with a wide assortment of colorful bedding plants. We transplanted the hostas to another well suited area. We learned the most effective way to stake trees and the importance of using twine that degrade naturally over time, so as not to harm the tree and allow it to grow properly.

Another one of our recently planted garden beds is found outside the Student Wellness Centre, and is currently  in full bloom, with daisies and Coreopsis flowers. These present the Fanshawe colors proudly, in a fun contrast of white and red. Our technician Jeff was inspired to design a natural informal style garden, mixing various canopy heights, plants with long bloom times, evergreen and deciduous trees and shrubs to provide multi-seasonal texture and accentuate the surrounding environment. 

As we continue improving the aesthetics of the Fanshawe grounds we also meticulously cleaned and sterilized the greenhouse in anticipation for our poinsettia cuttings coming in next week!