Improving the University landscape

Central area of the Radcliffe Observatory Quarter (ROQ)

The University Parks team have been working on numerous landscaping projects around Oxford aimed at improving the University’s outdoor spaces for the enjoyment of staff, students and the general public.

They have been spreading and contouring a large quantity of soil taken from the Mansfield Road sports field site on part of the central area of the Radcliffe Observatory Quarter (ROQ). The soil was displaced during the installation of modular buildings at Mansfield Road. Eventually it may be moved elsewhere, perhaps back to its original location, but in the meantime spreading, levelling and seeding it at the ROQ will improve the appearance of this part of the large empty central area there (near the neighbouring Somerville College accommodation) and make it easier to maintain, enabling the team to mow regularly so that the soil becomes part of an attractive lawn.

ORC Link Road now features 11 custom-made steel planters with a powder-coated finish.

Parks gardeners have also been beautifying the Old Road Campus (ORC), landscaping the road behind the Big Data Institute and Kennedy Building. The ORC Link Road now features 11 custom-made steel planters with a powder-coated finish. Seven of them will hold trees with uplighters, while the others will be planted with shrubs and herbaceous plants. The gardeners also planted a hedge of Purple Leaf Sand Cherry running alongside the ramp leading to the cycle store at the Wellcome Trust Centre for Human Genomics.

Finally, Parks staff have also been involved with renovating Oriel College’s middle quadrangle. They have removed all the existing plants except for trees, refurbished tiles and border edging, dug over and heavily composted the borders, designed and installed a new planting scheme and added more stainless steel wires for plants to climb up.