Bulletin Spring‧Summer 2005

Hainan Elaeocarpus Frangipani White Champak Trees on Campus The campus was b u ilt on the slopes th a t had been excavated fo r the construction o f P lover Cove Reservoir. W hen the governm ent handed ove r the site to C U H K , the w h o le area above the m a in cam p u s w a s b a rre n w ith o n ly ru g g e d b o u ld e rs . The o n ly exception was C hung C h i College, located at the fo o t o f the h ill. G reening the en vironm en t was an urg en t task and it fe ll in to the hand s o f the then n u rs e ry team o f the B u ild in g s O ffic e (n o w L a n d s c a p in g S e c tio n o f th e E states M a n a g em e n t O ffic e ). G eolog ically, the campus ha d fa r more rocks than soil. A n d its lo cation near the ha rb o u r subjected it to w in d s heavy w ith salt, w h ic h d id no t fa v o u r p la n t g row th . A t U n ite d College and N ew A sia College, the m ost h ig h ly elevated parts o f the campus, the w in d s were strongest and plants d id n o t g row w e ll. A c c o rd in g to r e tire d C o n s tru c tio n S u p e rv is o r o f th e Landscaping Section, M r. C.K. Yau, his team fo u n d a so lu tio n to the p ro b lem o f ro c k y s o il — to make holes in the ro ck w ith a pneum atic d r ill and f ill them w ith fe rtile so il in w h ic h saplings were p lan te d . They chose plan ts th a t are resistant to d ro u g h t, cold and salt, such as horsetail, pines, Taiwan acacias, and azaleas. They also too k external factors in to account w hen choosing w h a t to g row , in c lu d in g hardness and d e p th o f the s o il, the te rra in , sunshine, w a te r sources, and w in d direction. For instance, large trees need deeper s o il w h ile shrubs are p re fe rre d fo r slopes. Secondary c o n sid e ra tio n s w e re the c o lo u r and h e ig h t o f the p lan ts; huge discrepancies in h e ig h t and species c o u ld lead to disorderliness. O u r cam pus to d a y is the fr u it o f the h a rd w o rk o f several decades. T h is issue o f th e Chi nese U n i v e r s i t y Bu l l e t i n w ill in tro d u ce tree species on campus th a t are p re v a le n t o r special. Special thanks goes to flo ra p h ile Prof. H u S h iu -y in g and staff members w h o have he lped to be a u tify and green o u r campus. CUHK Campus • Trees on Campus 5