Elon landscaping and grounds team wins national award

Elon University has been recognized by the Professional Grounds Management Society (PGMS) for its exceptional grounds maintenance. Details...

Elon received a Grand Award in the 2006 Green Star Awards competition. Superintendent of Landscaping and Grounds Tom Flood, Lead Groundskeeper Mike Laplaca and Lead Gardener Dawn Hensley were in Columbus, Ohio, Nov. 1-4 to receive the award – one of four Grand Awards given in the University and College Grounds category.

Elon’s landscaping and grounds department is responsible for maintaining 182 landscaped acres and sports facilities, including seven professional-quality sports fields and eight club sports fields. Its 21 full-time employees were commended for their excellence in maintaining the 585-acre campus as a botanical garden. The university also conducts educational programs and sponsors horticulture internships for students.

PGMS presented 14 Grand Awards, its highest honor, and 12 Honor Awards in 12 categories of competition in this year’s program. The Green Star Awards were created to nationally recognize excellence in manicured grounds, including cemeteries, playgrounds, commercial sites and urban university grounds.

The other Grand Award winners in the University and College Grounds category were Pomona College, University of California at Davis and University of Wisconsin at La Crosse.

Founded in 1911, PGMS is an individual membership society of grounds professionals advancing the grounds management profession through education and professional development. The Green Star Awards program brings national recognition to grounds maintained with a high degree of excellence, complimenting other national landscape award programs that recognize outstanding landscape design and construction.

For more information about PGMS and the Green Star Awards, go to www.pgms.org.

See photos of the Elon campus on the PGMS Web site at the link below…