UT students place native plants in the Glass Bowl

TOLEDO, Ohio (WTVG) – As thousands of football fans descend on the Glass Bowl for the Battle of I-75 this weekend, you may notice some changes to the scene.

Students and staff from the University of Toledo spent this Friday planting native plants in the gardens surrounding the stadium. The project required a lot of preparation, some gardening tools, and “guts.”

“GUTS is an abbreviation for ‘Greening the University of Toledo through Service,’” said Todd Crail, distinguished university professor in the UT Department of Environmental Sciences. “It is an organization that students started. They wanted to plant native plants in the landscape around campus. “They generated their own funds to do this with the Student Green Fund, and this is the ultimate goal of their efforts: to put them here in the Glass Bowl.”

All of these plants were grown on campus and about 200 students participated. Some of them enjoy the study break; working with your hands and spending time outdoors.

“I love doing this because I learn more about the plants we are planting,” said Caleb Lawrence, a student volunteer. “So, I’m in the process of figuring out what this is all about and I love that because then I get the knowledge and I can do it myself.”

Once these native plants are established, they require little to no maintenance because they can withstand our local climate. They also have many more benefits than simply beautifying the landscape.

“With nutrients, with carbon sequestration, with pollinator benefits, they actually interact with the ecosystem,” Crail said. “And they require less maintenance than other plantations.”

Since the plants are native, it is not a problem to plant them at this time of year. Whether you’re coming to cheer on the Rockets or the Falcons on Saturday, be sure to look around and enjoy the new “native” look.

“Near the alumni pavilion in the Glass Bowl is where we are planting now,” Crail said. “A somewhat representative, although graded, garden is located on the other side of the tennis courts if you are in lot 10.”

“I think it’ll be cool too, coming to the football games you’ll be able to see him grow over time,” Lawrence said. “And then you can watch it build up and say, ‘I saw that once.’”

The students have already invested 1,000 man hours in this planting effort. 60% of that time was for class credit, but the other 400 hours were purely voluntary. They also plan to expand this project next summer.

Latest local news | First weather alert | Crime | National | original 13abc