UM Landscaping Services is in charge of planting flowers across campus, including in the Circle by the Lyceum.
With 2,000 acres, around 200 trees planted annually, almost 19,000 square feet of seasonal flower beds and, of course, the famous Grove – Ole Miss is consistently ranked as the most beautiful college campus. Most recently, it was recognized as the most beautiful college in Mississippi by Travel and Leisure. The Oxford campus consistently receives recognition as the “best of the best.”
Attributable to his zeal, which is comparable to that of a coach or trainer – albeit with a larger playing field and much smaller budget – Jeff McManus, director of Landscape Services, is responsible for making the campus what it is.
Speaking from his office, McManus even sounds like a coach.
“We don’t call them recognitions — we call them national championships,” McManus said. “We have five national championships.”
The “national championships” Ole Miss has won are being recognized as the most beautiful college campus by the Professional Grounds and Maintenance Society in 2002 and 2013, Newsweek in 2011, the Princeton Review 2013 and USA Today 2016.
After graduating from Auburn University in 1988 with a degree in horticulture, McManus began his career working for high-end properties and resorts. In 2000, he began his career at Ole Miss under former Chancellor Robert Khayat’s campus beautification program.
With one of the smallest budgets and staffs in the Southeastern Conference, McManus has still been able to accomplish his simple goal of being the best with a team of fewer than 30 actual hands-on groundskeepers.
“Budget for the grounds in relationship to other SEC universities is one of the lowest,” McManus said. “What we try to do is we try to get the most efficient, productive system setup to create the most ‘wow’ connection with our customers.”
With a budget just over $1 million, Ole Miss Landscaping has the fifth smallest budget in the SEC.
Neil McIntosh and crew hard at work in 2017.
A staff of 32 full-time employees (with only 28 people in the field) are in charge of making sure the campus stays well-groomed, which is not a simple job. The landscaping team is tasked with more than 10 miles of street to sweep and/or blow on a weekly basis.
“A big part of what we are looking for are people who are positive and want to be the best of the best,” McManus said. “People who aren’t just looking for a paycheck, but they’re looking to have some passion to win and make Ole Miss the best and lead the way. I mean we have probably under-budgeted staff-wise, 40 percent, and are still able to create an incredible campus.”
Upon being hired, employees are required to attend “Landscape University,” a training program tailored specifically for Ole Miss’ ground crew.
According to the Landscaping Services website, the purpose of Landscape University is “to help employees understand their role in Ole Miss’ effort to ‘Cultivate Greatness’ in its students, athletes, faculty, employees and friends, by constantly maintaining a well-groomed and beautiful campus.”
The program trains employees in professional responsibility, advanced landscaping, safety and people skills.
“My favorite part of the job is watching our staff go from weeders to leaders and how they take responsibility and create more from less,” McManus said.
Landscaping team member Neil McIntyre has his hands on the ground every day.
“We start to work at 6:30 a.m.,” McIntyre said. “We come out here in the morning and go gas up, head to the pine straw trailer, fill up the truck bed, then we come out here and go to work.”
For many, the campus is a part of the Ole Miss draw and charm.
Savannah Smith, junior public policy leadership major and student ambassador, has seen the effect the campus has while giving potential students tours of the school.
“I feel like students, when they are visiting, step onto campus and see that something is different about Ole Miss,” Smith said. “We do this loop around campus and they see that it is more than just a group of buildings. It’s just so special.”
One of the biggest challenges for the landscaping staff is coordinating with the weather. Days for the staff look different depending on the season.
More than 20,000 flowers are planted in the spring.
In the spring, the staff plants approximately 20,000 seasonal color plants, which include 10,000 tulip bulbs and 10,000 daffodils. In the fall, workers are tasked with seeding the grove after the last home football game, which requires around 4,500 pounds of seed to complete.
Denise Hill, superintendent of Landscaping Services, oversees management and training.
“Our goal is to provide an aesthetically pleasing landscape, of course, for our students and for our parents. We want them to feel like their kids are being well taken care of, and you know the first thing you see, of course, is the landscape,” Hill said. “You want to go somewhere where it looks loved.”
This article was submitted to The Daily Mississippian from an advanced reporting class.
