While mowing is important, lawn care is only number two on the list of FSG's priorities. Litter control comes first. Facilities mechanic Fred Binggeli is responsible for maintaining the 200 trash cans on the downtown campus, but groundskeepers must remove loose debris, including paper and sometimes hub caps and mufflers, from their assigned areas. After lawn care comes tree work. According to Fitzpatrick, there are 6,000 trees on the downtown campus, all inventoried by location, genus, and species.
Special note is made of memorial and donated trees.
The Oakdale campus has another 4,000 trees and an inventory is under way. And there are the splashes of color amidst the greenery. This past winter, he heard predictions for a hot, dry summer and imagined thriving beds of heat-loving, drought tolerant blue salvia and marigolds. Instead, the rain has taken its toll. It's so hard to plan.