The 3,000 deciduous trees now showing off their vibrant fall colors at the University of Oregon will drop about 45 tons of leaves onto sidewalks and lawns before the season ends. The glory quickly turns into a soggy mess when the winter rains begin. That’s when UO grounds crews move in to take the mess away. "Our first priority is safety," says Tim King, the man in charge of the 10 workers who spend six months each year cleaning up the mess. "We have leaf blowers out somewhere on campus every day, just clearing sidewalks." King says the crew’s second priority is to get the leaves off the lawns. "Leaves can choke off the grass fairly quickly," he explains. Leaves from the lawns and sidewalks are piled around shrubs and curbs until tractors with front-end loaders can load them into trucks that take them away for composting. King says the UO compost operation is low tech, but is nonetheless effective. "We used to haul this stuff to the county dump or toss it onto an empty site on the northeast edge of campus," King says. "Then, we bought mulch and fertilizer for our planting beds. Now, by doing our own composting, we save about $8,000 a year. That’s a pretty good deal." SOURCE: Timothy King, exterior team supervisor, UO Facilities Services, (541) 346-5256;
e-mail timking@oregon.uoregon.edu.

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