One of the first things visitors notice about Kansas University is the beauty of the campus.

The university spends close to $1.1 million annually to maintain the grounds on the main campus in Lawrence, the Edwards Campus in Overland Park and the KU Medical Center campus in Kansas City, Kan.

Mike Lang, KU landscape manager, said 27 full-time landscape employees and up to 10 temporary hires were busy year-round with grounds upkeep.

“The campus is the area of some small towns,” Lang said. “It’s not the most high-paying job; all the workers are very dedicated.”

Landscape employees start their day at 6 a.m. and finish around 3 p.m.

There are four landscape crews — mowers with large equipment; trim mowers; a staff that takes care of the trees, shrubs and landscape beds; and a staff that takes care of the annual beds during the growing season.

“We usually keep the same guys in the same crews,” Lang said. “They all have their little niche, and they’re good at what they do.”

The trim mowers are the largest landscape crew with eight full-time employees.

Bob Abbott, one of the supervisors in the landscape shop, has been helping take care of KU’s trees, shrubs and landscape beds for 14 years.

“It’s a heck of a job,” Abbott said. “It takes a lot more people than we’ve got.”

Workers plant thousands of tulips and mums around campus in the fall. In front of Strong Hall, 3,800 tulips are planted, Abbott said.

“Tulips are one of the easier things to care for,” Abbott said. “We have to weed them, but there are usually not many moisture problems.”

Michael Lang, KU landscape manager, tends to a flower bed in front of Strong Hall.

That changes later in the spring when the tulips die and approximately 12,000 annuals are planted in mid-April. It takes a crew of five to seven people about three weeks to get the plantings done.

“We want the campus to look really nice for commencement,” Abbott said. “People don’t begin to realize how much it actually takes to do that.”

A crew of at least four workers spends the summer maintaining the annual beds by watering, pulling weeds, replacing dead flowers and spraying.

“It’s constant,” Abbott said. “Their summer job is to keep those beds up.”

The landscape shop picks the colors that go in the various beds. Lang said colors were selected with location in mind. The flowers in the bed in front of Smith Hall are often not as formal-looking as the ones in front of Strong Hall, for example.

“It’s hard to try to think what the public likes,” Lang said. “That’s what you try for, but you don’t really get any input until it’s bad.”

Super Elfin Red impatiens fill a flower bed outside Budig Hall.

Lang said crimson flowers were always a popular choice. He had received several compliments on the new bed with blue petunias and bright red roses in front of Watson Library.

In recent years, the university has gone away from smaller flower beds in low-traffic areas to bigger beds in high-profile areas, Lang said.

“If you’re going to be in a flower bed or an annual bed daily or every other day, you just as well should be in one everyone’s going to see instead of jumping around,” he said. “Hopefully, we’re doing a good job of that.”

Newer flower beds include the ones in front of Watson Library, Smith Hall, Strong Hall and the Chi Omega fountain.

To keep up with all the landscape needs, the shop has a variety of equipment — four Gator mowers, seven large mowers, five tractors, three dump trucks, a water truck, more than 20 push mowers and an “endless” amount of hand equipment such as tree trimmers and chain saws.

KU landscape crew members Adam Peterson, left, and Chris Ramirez plant annuals in May in front of the Malott Gateway. The workers were preparing the campus for commencement and former President Clinton's visit.

“The scope is big enough that we have a full-time mechanic just to work on our equipment,” Lang said. “It’s a major investment.”

But all the work and money seem to be worth it.

“We take an immense amount of pride,” Abbott said. “You’d be surprised by how many people call and tell us how beautiful the campus is. It gets kind of tedious sometimes, so it’s nice to know people really appreciate it.”

Adam Peterson of KU landscaping waters flowers surrounding the Chi Omega fountain in May.