No matter the season, the University of Alabama’s campus is always beautiful.

Despite recent rains, it is clear that Tuscaloosa is going through a drought. Most of the city is covered with dead grass and very few flowers. However, the University of Alabama’s facilities and grounds crews have been working very hard to keep the campus’s appearance top notch.

With Bama Bound in session all summer, the crews are working extra hard to keep the campus looking nice.

“Being on campus makes me even more excited to be here in the fall,” said freshman J’Cee Hyatt. “The campus is so beautiful.”

It is not just through the summer months that the ground crews are working hard to keep the campus beautiful. Strategic planning is used to decide what flowers and colors will be put on the campus during the academic year.

Duane Lamb, the assistant vice president of facilities and grounds, hired horticulturists onto his crew to assist in making these decisions. Their goal is for the campus to look just as good in the more difficult summer and winter months as it does in the spring and fall months.

“You never know when someone might come visit the campus,” Lamb said. “We want it to look great year-round to ensure everyone who visits gets the sense that they are at home.”

Phillip S. Waite, an assistant professor in the Department of Horticultural and Landscape Architecture at Washington State, said about 62 percent of college students reported making their college decision on the appearance of the buildings and landscape. That is true at Alabama as well.

“The summer of my junior year in high school, I visited dozens of campuses,” said BethAnn Williams, a UA student from Michigan. “Alabama’s campus stood out to me. It was uniquely beautiful, and I felt at home.”

The University appeals to different types of students from across the United States.

Layla Hening, a student from Remlap, Ala, said as soon as she saw the campus, she knew Alabama was where she wanted to be.

“I love all the big trees,” Hening said.

In May, TheBestColleges.org released their list of the top 50 most beautiful college campuses in the United States. Alabama was ranked number 31, ahead of campuses such as Rollins College, Duke University, and Wake Forest University.

“It’s great to see all of our hard work paying off,” Lamb said. “Being ranked shows us that we are doing something right.”

Since Lamb was hired as the assistant vice president of facilities and grounds four years ago, he has implemented many practices to help improve the campus.

“The problem with the crews before was they were not always professionally trained to do everything expected of them,” Lamb said.

Lamb divided the 60 employees of the grounds crew into different teams. Each team is trained to do certain tasks. Members of the teams are also assigned specific locations where they work daily.

“Giving the teams a permanent location to work allows them to take pride in their work, knowing they are responsible for how the area looks,” he said.

The total budget for grounds maintenance in 2005 was $2.3 million. Although the campus has seen great improvements in the past years, the budget has only increased to $2.8 million.

Lamb has stressed great importance on the small things. Paying close attention to little details can change the look of an area with very little money spent.

Hanging baskets and flowerpots have been added around many buildings to add more color.

“Being an Alabama alumni, making the campus look great is a personal pride thing for me,” Lamb said.

Cleaning the outside of buildings on campus has also made a big difference, he said. The grounds crew has cleaned, detailed and repaired many of the buildings.

Lamb has also added a campus-wide irrigation system.  Making sure that each area has plenty of water is crucial to a beautiful campus.

The recent investment in a master control, which regulates which areas need water, has been a great addition to assist with saving money and water. It is also required that, if for some reason sprinklers can’t get to an area, the crew waters it by hand.

“I feel like the University has gotten more beautiful as the years have gone by,” said Belinda Hyatt, a parent attending Bama Bound. “I am so excited to be able to enjoy the campus with my daughter during football season.”