And we’re not pretending like this is a novel idea. Sounds familiar, right? Because, last year, landscaping students excitedly took to the new Life Sciences Building with their own unique design for the Terraced Gardens on the rooftop of the LSB. The purpose of the Terraced Gardens is to provide “an ideal on-campus location for students, faculty, staff, and visitors to enjoy the beauties of nature.” BYU students came together with faculty members to create a cohesive design that features over 100 plant species and a waterfall.
Here’s what Earl Hansen, the Landscaping Design college’s research and mentoring facilities director has to say about the Terraced Gardens project:
“They learn how to take care of plants,” said Hansen. "How to prune them and water them. They learn about chemicals and fertilizers. They learn all kinds of hands-on applications that will back up their classroom experience.” [3]
So, what is Kill The Trees all about?
Check out our cause.
Brigham Young University is a classy place, right? We want students, faculty, and visitors who walk onto BYU campus to breathe deeply and recognize the beauty of our campus. When people breathe in a nose-full of wretched pear stink, their first thought isn’t “Wow, what a respectable establishment.” More realistically, they’re thinking “Where’s the pile of rotting fish?” This entirely misrepresents the BYU campus, whose first impression should promote an enriching and uplifting learning environment.
As a token of our respect and appreciation for BYU campus, we say kill those trees! And here’s how we plan to constructively do exactly that. Did you know that BYU has a Landscape Design Program? Students in this program are eager to beautify their campus through projects that give them both the opportunity to learn and gain experience as designers of landscaping and give back to the campus that gives us all so much. We suggest a project testing the talent of these brilliant young landscapers: remove the smelly pear trees and replace them with plants that they’ve raised from seedlings, configured in their own unique design. Not only will the stink trees be replaced with delightfully-smelling plants, but the project will present priceless experience for BYU landscaping students.
“The experience working in the gardens gives students a better understanding of plants that will help them as they pursue a career in landscape design and related fields.” [3] A brilliant plan, right? Let the kids who like to play in the dirt play in some actual dirt! We’re proposing a similar program, but a project that would stretch throughout campus, replacing those pear trees that plague us all with new landscaping. This project could pose as a mentored class for students both in and out of the program to interact with plants.
If you support a more beautiful and enjoyable BYU campus and growing experiences for BYU students, get on board with our cause and click here to sign our petition. Your signature could mean one less whiff of the flowering pear tree’s pungent fumes!