Janis Lee
Hays Beautification Committee
“In an effort to conserve water we are returning our landscaping to natural prairie grasses” is the message one sees as you enter both the Hays Medical Center and the Center for Health Improvement on the Hays Medical Center campus.
These signs announce the journey of conversion the Hays Medical Center is embarking upon for the landscaping of the approximately 80 acres of grasses and landscaped beds on their campus. The conversion journey will be a 5 to 10 year process, not one that happens overnight.
As a member of the Hays Beautification Committee I had the privilege of spending time with Lance Smith, Facility Services Director, and Bob Schumacher, Lead Ground Technician, of the Hays Medical Center staff, discussing their journey into the xeriscaping of such a large area.
Bob said that HaysMed started the conversion about four years ago with the nature trail area on the east edge of the property. In this area they replaced a large area of brome grass with a mix of native grasses including little blue stem, blue grama, side oats grama and buffalo grass. The grass mix also included seeds of more than 22 wild flower varieties including black eyed susan, cosmos, gray feather, false indigo, coreopsis, butterfly weed, and milkweed.
The grass mix is a short native mix that should produce grasses of no more than two foot height. HaysMed worked with K-State staff to find a blend that was appropriate for the Hays area. The eradication of the brome grass was not an easy task as they first burned the area and then had to use Roundup to finish the job.
The conversion of the grassy areas has now been expanded to the remainder of the campus except for approximately an acre. The same grass and wildflower mix is being used throughout the campus grassy areas.
The areas that will remain in fescue grass is the area surrounding the helipad and an area immediately east of the Center for Health Improvement that is connected to the child care center where the children play. Buffalo grass would cause too much dust for these areas.
The landscaping islands nearer the buildings include plantings of Russian sage, yarrow, cat mint, black-eyed susan, blue (may night) salvia and switch grass among the grasses–all xeric perennials requiring little water while providing a very pleasing and aromatic atmosphere.
The drought we experienced has been a challenge to the conversion process–especially the first couple of years. Even though the grass and flower mix used is appropriate for xeriscape plantings in our area, lower than normal moisture makes the establishment of a sustaining population of plants take more time.
The water conservation from the conversion was impressive. While the campus was using 500,000 gallons of water for irrigation each week before, during last summer the campus was only using 115,000 gallons per week.
The only irrigation done on the campus last summer was for the one fescue acre mentioned as well as the trees being watered individually. The landscaping areas and the native grass areas were not watered.
An additional savings is that the native grass areas require much less mowing. The plan is to mow early in the spring and perhaps once more, thus leaving a lot of cover to collect moisture and seeds over the winter months. Five-foot-wide swaths will be mowed around the islands of grass and also along the walking paths in the nature trail area to prevent unexpected encounters with wildlife. Wider strips will be mowed next to the drives and streets to provide for auto visual safety.
Lance and Bob shared that they had fielded questions from businesses who have expressed interest in xeriscaping and Hays Medical Center’s project is an excellent example.
As Bob said, this is the future for much of Hays and our area.
Janis Lee is vice-chairperson of the Hays Beautification Committee.