BOTTINEAU — Three Dakota College at Bottineau horticulture students created a landscaping area for the area around a new addition to the Knudsen Center dining hall as part of a practicum.

The students, Eric Hildebrand from Brandon, Manitoba; Dustin Gilseth of Langdon, and Jessica McInnes from Minnedosa, Manitoba, started working on the project last month. The students proposed a continuation of the pollinator garden already established on campus, which is close to the new patio area. This will create a “no spray no mow” area. Because this is a continuation of the campus’s pollinator garden, the plants are deer and rabbit resistant and are designed for bees, birds, and other pollinators.

According to McInnes, the students want the area to “have a cohesive theme by incorporating plants that already exist at other locations on campus {and} with the certified pollinator garden being the closest existing flowerbed it was a no-brainer.” This will also require little maintenance and “serve as a barrier between the areas of campus that are sprayed with chemicals and heavily mown,” according to McInnes.

The students also were excited about the plants they chose for the landscaping project.

“I’m a huge fan of the prairie grasses we chose to implement in the design. Karl Foerster and Prairie Dropseed to be specific. The height and movement of these grasses seem to bring the design alive and give it that final touch we all seem to seek,” said Gilseth.

Hildebrand was most excited about Arctic Fire Dogwoods that he said “is a perennial shrub that has four season appeal.”

McInnes liked the Micro Clover Lawn that she said will bring important nutrients back to the soil and it will have an inviting green space for individuals to enjoy.

Campus Dean Jerry Migler said there will be similar projects in the future for the Horticulture Department to landscape. Possible future projects include OId Main on the Dakota College at Bottineau campus and possibly the new CTE Center in Minot.