Editor’s note: Every year, hundreds of undergraduates at the University of Delaware pursue research under the guidance of a faculty mentor, especially during the summer months. Such experiences provided by UD — a nationally recognized research university — can be life-changing, introducing young scholars to a new field, perhaps even the path to a future career, as they uncover new knowledge. These spotlights offer a glimpse into their world. 

Landscape maintenance plans help guide decisions on how to maintain trees, plants, shrubs and other ecological features of an area. They’re basically to-do lists for sustaining the environment. 

The University of Delaware doesn't currently have a plan specific to horticulture, but one student’s summer research will be instrumental in changing that. 

Aleena Sabir, a senior landscape architecture major, spent the summer with UD Facilities, Real Estate and Auxiliary Services conducting undergraduate research on campus maintenance related to planting. The summer research is part of the UD Summer Scholars Program. Sabir identified and inventoried trees and plants in The Grove — a small area on The Green between Alison Hall and the Caesar Rodney Dining Hall. The inventory and research she does will go into the University’s first-ever plan that focuses on the horticultural needs of the plants to be used as a tool for the Department of Landscape Services staff.

Sabir used an application called Healthy Trees, Healthy Cities, where she plugged in exact coordinates of plants using GPS and GIS data, took pictures of and identified plants by their genus and species, and stored the information in the app.

“When I walk around The Green, I always wonder, ‘Why did they put that plant there? What was their thought process?’” Sabir said. “I wanted to see what was behind that.” 

Sabir’s work revealed American beech trees, red maple, Eastern redbud and Pawpaw were the most common trees in this section of campus. For plants, Sabir saw a lot of large fothergilla, hostas, hellebores and rhododendrons. 

Now that she has identified the plants and trees in the area, Sabir will put together a visual map of where the various plantings are. That way, when UD Facilities refers to the plan, they’ll know exactly where the species are and can determine when they need to prune them and do other maintenance. 

“It feels like a lot of pressure because UD Facilities will be using this plan,” Sabir said. 

Josh Twardowski, a landscape architect and manager on UD’s grounds crew, supervised Sabir over the course of her summer research. He praised Sabir’s initiative in establishing the maintenance plan, as well as her organizational and technological skills.

“Aleena has done an outstanding job,” Twardowski said. “She has been proactive, positive and very communicative.” 

Twardowski said the short-term goal of the landscape maintenance plan is to use it as a maintenance tool to improve efficiency and landscape health. The long-term goal is to expand the effort across UD’s entire landscape and provide a tool for maintenance staff to follow campus landscape standards. 

He said what Sabir is creating is the start of something that will take a few years to complete. He hopes it can be part of the curriculum of landscape architecture classes in the UD College of Agriculture and Natural Resources as well as ongoing Summer Scholar projects.

“We will continue this project in the central part of campus until it is complete and then move to the other areas of campus,” Twardsowski said. “Realistically once all plant species are identified we will have this document to use as the template of how to maintain the entire campus landscape.”

Sabir said she’s grateful for the summer research that further solidified her interest in plants and plant-based work — and she’s starting off the school year with newfound confidence that she learned from being in a work environment. 

Overall, Sabir said, her summer research in landscaping was rewarding. On an individual level, it’s helped her strengthen her plant identification skills. On a broader scale, she is playing a role in the future of campus maintenance.

“This is making a difference,” Sabir said.