As California continues to grapple with one of the worst droughts on record, Whittier College is taking proactive steps to reduce water waste on campus by replacing grass areas with drought-resistant vegetation. The changes, outlined in a landscaping master plan approved by an administrative committee last year, are gradually being rolled out at various locations across the campus.
During the College’s winter break and January term, Grounds Supervisor Yas Osako and his team removed 6,000 square feet of grass from two locations outside Hoover Hall. In its place, the crew installed diverse landscaping that will carry a subtle tinge of Poet Pride when it blooms. The new landscaping consists of low-maintenance plants such as salvia, ceanothus, Mexican marigold, calandrinia, and yellow bulbine among others. Osako’s crew also installed a drip irrigation system and gave the new plants a healthy start with mulch processed and donated by the City of Los Angeles Bureau of Sanitation’s Free Mulch Give-Away program.
The Whittier College grounds crew will continue to follow the landscape master plan over the next couple years. This spring, the crew is aiming to replace vegetation in the slopes above the Upper Quad followed by the areas surrounding various residence halls this summer.
