Landscape Design

Many elements of school landscape design have important implications for pest management. Factors such as selection and placement of turf species or ornamental plants, trash receptacle design and placement, and walkway design can contribute to the aesthetics, pest potential, and sustainability of school landscapes. These factors come into play when designing new schools, renovating buildings or landscapes, constructing playgrounds, or adding athletic fields. Elements of design can contribute to pest problems, or help to reduce pest pressure around school grounds.

Some important considerations for landscape design include:

• Plant selection and placement
• Outdoor lighting
• Traffic patterns
• Waste management
• Drainage and water management
• Selection and placement of playground equipment

Photograph by Jerry Jochim

Purdue University has been working with Veazey, Parrott, Durkin, and Shoulders , an Indiana-based architecture firm, to develop some guidelines for school landscape design. Several IPM design issues are discussed on their website.

University of Minnesota Extension Service, Department of Horticulture Science, maintains an excellent website on Sustainable Urban Landscapes. This site has provides information on landscape design, plant selection, implementation, and maintenance.

Resources for Landscape Maintenance and Pest Control

Maintaining healthy plants is one of the primary defenses against landscape pests. Research shows that plants under stress (from drought, poor soils, pollution, etc.) tend to be more susceptible to damage from insect pests. The following resources are provided to help with maintenance of landscape plants, IPM design for landscape management, and pest problem solving.

IPM for Trees and Shrubs from the EPA Region 9 Guide to IPM in Schools provides general guidelines for management of school landscapes with IPM.

Purdue University’s Landscape Entomology Laboratory website describes current research in landscape IPM and provides links to useful publications.

The Illinois Department of Natural Resources and the University of Illinois have prepared an Online Identification and Management Guide for turf and landscape pests.

Purdue University Extension publications for ornamental insect pests.

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