To the Editor:
The campus is such a busy place this time of year. The sun is shining, classes are in session and the flowers are blooming – which bring me to my point. My name is Alyssa Rioux and I am the flower gardener here on campus. I work for the head of Horticulture, Steve Sweedler. All summer long, the gardening crew has been taking care of the trees, shrubs and flower gardens that help make the Universities grounds so attractive. Ever year when the fall semester begins, we expect to have some casualties from over-exuberant revelers, but in my three years of working with PSU’s Horticulture Department I have never noticed such and increase in vandalism of flowers, trees, and shrubs as I have this particular fall.
We come to work on Monday mornings to find large shrubs uprooted, trees missing limbs, and flowerbeds that appear to have been slept in. “What’s the big deal?” you may ask? First, this sort of vandalism is simply not acceptable. Second, there is the value of these plants, tallied both financially and in the investment of the caretakers’ time. Many of the trees on campus are unusual varieties which, thanks to the coercion and skill of Mr. Sweedler, are able to grow here in Plymouth. The loss of a limb by breakage of tearing may open up the tree to parasites other infections that can kill it. The flowerbeds on campus are the result of months of care and planning and are for everyone to look at and enjoy, not lie in or take home.
So, the next time you consider taking a little piece of campus greenery home with you, please think again. Check out our website for plants in bloom: www.plymouth.edu/fsb/landscap/plantisis.htm.
Thank you,
Alyssa RiouxFlower GardenerHorticulture DepartmentAlyssa.rioux@gmail.comX2644