Facility Services prunes trees in order to provide a beautiful campus for students, but workers also prune tree branches to prevent damage that may occur to surrounding buildings and students.
“Landscape is just an appearance that people have come to expect,” arborist manager Ricky Humphreys said.
Humphreys said when he took his position many of the campus trees were mature but not well managed.
Glen Wilson, arborist supervisor, said the trees are pruned to give students a beautiful campus.
Wilson said it is important to provide students with a shady, well landscaped area to study and relax between classes.
Yet, Kevin Miller, a trainee for Arborist Management, said if the trees are not pruned, they eventually will grow into the surrounding buildings.
Wilson said the trees can grow 2 to 3 feet every year.
“If the trees grow in around the buildings, it will deteriorate buildings,” Wilson said.
He said the branches damage the roofs and gutters of the buildings.
Wilson also said pruning the trees prevents common black soot mildew from growing on the building.
He said the mildew is a result of the moisture given off by tree branches.
Pruning the trees allows blocked sunlight to enter, Wilson said. The sunlight absorbs the moisture needed for the mildew to grow.
But Wilson said the mildew is not harmful to students.
“If that [mildew] hurt people, we would all be goners,” he said.
Even though the trees cause harmless mildew, Humphreys said the trees can be responsible for damages to library archives.
He said Hill Memorial Library has concerns about vegetation growing close to the building.
James Abbott, curator of HIll Memorial Library, said he has asked Facility Services to cut overgrown vegetation back from the building.
“Vegetation invites insects to move from trees into the buildings,” Abbott said.
Abbott said the insects could eat the archives and resources in the library.
He said since pruning nearby trees and bushes, the insect problem has become less of a concern.
Wilson said besides inviting insects and mildew, the trees also make it difficult to see campus architecture.
When the trees are overgrown, it is difficult for students to see building names, Wilson said. Pruning makes it easier for students to look across the Quad and see everything.
Wilson said not all of the damage to buildings is caused solely by trees.
Both Wilson and Humphreys said the local squirrel population contributes to some of the damage. Squirrels eat tree bark, causing dry limbs.
Dry limbs have the potential to fall, therefore they must be pruned to prevent injuries to University students.
Wilson said the squirrels have become a hazard to the trees.