MSU’s Landscape Services receives national recognition for campus stewardship 

Michigan State University’s Landscape Services department has won the 2025 Professional Grounds Management Society Green Star Gold Award for outstanding performance in turf management, landscape design and maintenance, safety, efficiency and sustainability.

The annual PGMS Green Star Awards Program brings national recognition to grounds maintained with a high degree of excellence, saluting the grounds crew responsible for maintaining a well-manicured landscape year-round. Landscape Services earned the award by demonstrating exceptional mastery across every dimension of the Green Star rubric.

“Landscape management is more than just keeping the grass green,” said Matt Bailey, landscape services manager at MSU. “It’s caring for the urban arboretum that makes up MSU’s campus with over 22,000 trees across 5,200 acres. It’s designing our landscapes thoughtfully, managing invasive species, ensuring the health of our outdoor spaces, designing green spaces for the community and the wildlife, and more.”

From large-scale event preparation to snow removal, invasive species management, community partnerships, and commemorative tree programs, the team consistently delivers high-impact work with creativity and technical skill. These projects demonstrate capacity, innovation, and Spartan Will in key areas like:

• Landscape design and philosophy — with in‑house landscape architects shaping the campus environment, every space is planned with intention, balancing form, function, color and texture throughout the seasons. Native plants, thoughtful soil preparation, strategic mulching, and meticulous pruning schedules ensure that each landscape not only looks beautiful but contributes to ecological resilience and long-term campus sustainability.
• Safety — safety remains foundational to the department’s culture. A comprehensive safety plan governs all operations, requiring PPE, equipment training, and adherence to emergency and shelter protocols. This commitment is deeply embedded in daily practices and reflects a team-wide focus on protecting employees, students and visitors.
• Sustainability — MSU has minimized glyphosate use, incorporated organic fertilizers, expanded pollinator corridors, and implemented no‑mow zones to improve habitat health. Battery-powered equipment and plant growth regulators reduce emissions and energy use, reinforcing the university’s commitment to environmental stewardship.

• Academic partnerships — the MSU grounds are a living laboratory, where Landscape Services collaborates with a variety of student groups, researchers and instructors to provide training, hands-on experience, and space to prototype and assess sustainability research. These include bendable concrete, teaching students to operate heavy equipment, demonstrations on irrigation, and removal of invasive plant species.
• Turf management — MSU’s turf management program reflects a level of craftsmanship and consistency found in the nation’s top grounds operations—turf is expertly striped, trimmed, and edged, with weekly mowing schedules, sustainable fertilizer practices and elite irrigation management ensuring a uniform, richly colored canopy across campus. Seasonal aeration and rotating stripe patterns further elevate the aesthetic quality expected of a premier land‑grant institution.

A critical example of this work is Landscape Services’ continuing efforts to restore the Red Cedar River and its banks. Landscape Services is a founding member of the Red Cedar Stewardship and Recreation Committee, comprised of community partners including the Michigan Waterways Stewards, the City of East Lansing, the City of Lansing, Meridian Township, and numerous MSU departments and student organizations. The Committee’s mission is to foster shared/cohesive stewardship of the Red Cedar, urging the Spartan and East Lansing communities to take pride in the health of one of the most iconic natural features.

“We are confident there will be much better care, protection, and improvement of our prized Red Cedar River in the immediate future and for generations to come,” said Mike Stout, president and founder of Michigan Waterways Stewards.

With the award, MSU’s Landscape Services gains national recognition for leadership in grounds and landscape management. It honors not only the beauty and health of our incredible campus, but also the strategy, expertise, and dedication of the people behind the work.

Looking to get involved?

Landscape Services, along with the RCSRC, hosts bi-annual Red Cedar River cleanup events which include tree plantings, riverbank habitat restoration, the creation of pollinator gardens, garbage retrieval, and brush clearing. These combined efforts from departments, student groups and colleges on campus contribute to the beauty of the Red Cedar River. To learn more and participate in the next event, visit the IPF website and the MSU Sustainability website for more information.

Opportunities to celebrate and honor a beloved member of the Spartan community with a tree, bench or brick on the beautiful East Lansing campus are available through MSU Landscape Keepsake program.