Leaves a fall-ing problem on campus

Nov. 18, 2004
By Heather Venema
News Editor

A sure sign that autumn has arrived is when the leaves of the SAU oak trees keep falling…and falling…and falling.

Several years ago, the SAU Physical Plant used to bale all those leaves like hay and send them with Pat Morrissey out to his property.  However, this process was very time-consuming, and the hay baler wasn’t the best tool to handle the leaves.

Next, the Physical Plant decided that they would try to mulch all the leaves with gator blades.  This process was much faster, and also provided a good way to recycle the leaves.  Although this process is fast, the blades can cause damage to the grass, so the Physical Plant was left looking for a third alternative.

“The best way we’ve found so far has been using a leaf-vac, which we started doing this year,” said Jim Hannon, Director of Physical Plant.  The leaves are blown into piles and then grinded as a vacuum sucks them up.  Them all the leaves are placed into a trailer and driven to either to the homes of Walter Cox or Doug Coobs.

The City of Davenport charges a fee for leaf removal, and the leaves must all be bagged for the city to pick them up.

“You can imagine how much money that would cost us, not to mention how much time it would take to bag the leaves,” Hannon said.

Hannon says that over 1,000 man-hours are spent on leaf removal each fall.  There are 54 oak trees alone in the area where graduation used to be held, with hundreds more around campus.

Hannon says that many people wonder why they don’t wait to clear the leaves until after they have all fallen, but waiting isn’t good for the campus grounds in general.  If the leaves are left too long they will kill the grass, plus the acidity of the leaves can cause problems too.

“The weather dictates our schedule,” said Hannon.  “But we try to focus our efforts ‘Under the Oaks’ and in the grotto.  We’re striving for curb appeal.”

In addition to removing the leaves from the ground, the leaves must be cleared out of the gutters of the 49 houses and 17 buildings that SAU owns.

Three groundskeepers work full-time on the project, in addition to the help of student employees.  Hannon says that another big help is the leaf-raking day that SGA plans every year.  That event was this afternoon from 1-3 p.m. in the grotto.

The hardest thing about clearing the leaves is being persistent. 

“You’ll leave one afternoon thinking it looks really nice, and you come back the next morning and more have fallen,” said Hannon. 

“The guys that work on this get out and do it without complaining,” Hannon said. “They stay right with it and get those leaves up.”  And although Hannon says that the job can be tedious, his guys are doing a great job and he’s pleased with the progress.

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