Photo courtesy: Jillian Russell
For trees, life means incremental growth: roots digging deeper into the soil and branches extending wider than before. At the University of Mississippi, trees do more than grow — they witness freshman tours, game days in the Grove, laughter among new friends and seniors parting ways after convocation.
The university’s Department of Landscape Services works to design a refreshing, natural landscape for students and visitors to enjoy. First impressions also play a key role in attracting students, meaning the university’s landscaping is an important facet of recruitment.
Andrew Kamler, a sophomore accounting major from Nesbit, Miss., said the aesthetics of the campus were a factor in why he enrolled.
“The campus had a warm feeling and pretty nice homey vibe, and it’s a big part of why I came,” Kamler said.
Whether or not trees live a long life is largely determined within their first six years of life. Nathan Lazinsky is one of two certified arborists on campus, along with Sophie Kline, whose jobs are to curate the perfect environment for trees to thrive.
Repeatedly receiving “farmer” as a suggested occupation on career readiness tests, Lazinsky knew he was destined to work outside. He went on to study forestry at Mississippi State University and is a certified arborist and tree risk assessor. He has planted more than 500 trees on the UM Oxford campus.
For Lazinsky, his priorities for planting revolve around longevity, as he realizes that the trees he grows will far outlast his career.
“I feel like (the Department of Landscape Services) leaves a legacy behind every day,” Lazinsky said. “The trees we plant are for the future generations to enjoy. Hopefully, everybody gets to enjoy it and someday someone will pick up the work whenever I decide to leave.”
The unassuming nature of landscaping work leaves an effortless impression on those who are oblivious to the landscapers beginning their workdays at 6 a.m., much like trees who supply oxygen without request.
“I think a lot of people take trees for granted, and if there weren’t trees, there wouldn’t be people here,” Lazinsky said.
Kelsey Lawmaster, a senior public policy leadership and philosophy double major from Breman, Ind., is one of two women in the Department of Landscape Services. She enjoys the hands-on nature of the work and the camaraderie of the crew, though she wishes more people respected the campus environment.
“I wish the average student had more respect for the environment and community they are a member of,” Lawmaster said. “The amount of litter that we find in the shrubs, in the grass, on the sidewalk is unreasonable. It’s mostly alcoholic beverages or sometimes a full meal thrown on the ground, especially outside of dorms.”
Landscaping at Ole Miss is about more than upkeep. Everything planted on campus is calculated with intention, from the colors of flowers to the university’s signature green canopy.
“There is a lot that goes into tree care on campus,” Lawmaster said. “You can look at a forest and see how all the trees have dropped lower limbs, and it’s just that top bunch. They kind of look gangly and are trying to get as much sunlight as they can. On campus, we spread them out in a way where they can look like a real tree. We can ‘tree them up’ where you cut off the lower limbs to make it more aesthetically pleasing.”
Despite attentive care, sometimes trees still struggle. Over the past two years, numerous trees have uprooted on campus. These trees have lived beyond their expected lifespan to an average of 80-110 years of age.
According to Lazinsky, trees do not die of old age. As trees get older, they become susceptible to diseases, soil compaction and root rot. Following university procedure, arborists plant a replacement tree of the same species in place of a tagged declining tree.
Two dignified Mississippi champion trees are located on university grounds, the widest trees of their kind in the state: the Northern Catalpa, next to the student union and the Osage Orange near the University Museum.
The Northern Catalpa tree has received more attention over the past few years since storms in 2014 started to split the tree and required the addition of metal props to hold up its branches. After undertaking sonic tomography, Lazinsky’s team found that the tree is hollow on the inside. It is estimated to be 175 years old; however, the university will never fully know its age. Lazinsky cited the Catalpa as his favorite tree on campus and said he would not let it go down on his watch.
The university offers a self-guided digital tree trail that spans from the Grove to Bishop Hall. Upwards of 200 species of trees can be found on the Oxford campus, including Flowering Dogwood, Yoshino Cherry and Ginko Biloba.
Freshman accounting major Everett Heuer from Oxford completed the tree trail through an honors tour and for his environmental science class.
“I didn’t realize how many kinds of trees we had,” Heuer said. “The Northern Catalpa has been here since the university’s inception almost, which just shows how old it is.”
To learn more about trees on campus, visit Treeplotter. If you’re interested in embarking on a tree trail, search “University of Mississippi Tree Trail” on Google Maps.
