Newsletter No. 2

CUHK Newsletter pine, acacia, casuarina, and azalea. Fortunately, these types grow very fast and form little ‘forests' easily, hence making it possible fairly early on to provide some greenery on the higher levels of the campus. Ongoing challenges Deciding what trees to plant and where to plant them requires careful consideration of a number of factors such as the hardness of the ground, the depth of the topsoil, the gradient of the various slopes, the sources of water available and the most frequent direction of the wind. Normally, large trees are located where the soil is deep. Care is also taken to group together trees of similar shape, colour, and height. The distribution of different kinds of trees is also subject to the judgment of campus architects. The current trend as the campus expands is for the architects to decide what kinds of horticulture will best match the style of the new buildings and where the placement of trees and flowers will best complement the ambience of the buildings. Producing lush vegetation in the New Asia College and United College areas is another ongoing challenge. Both colleges are located about 140 metres above sea level, where the water supply is limited. The altitude of the colleges coupled with the ever-present problem of insufficient staff to properly maintain a campus of over 330 acres makes it difficult to install an irrigation system, or to otherwise service the upper level of the campus. Much therefore depends on the amount of rainfall and its natural distribution throughout the upper reaches of the University. A current problem which greatly saddens Mr. Yau is the fact that many sturdy and beautiful pine trees are dying because of a certain parasite which has invaded Hong Kong in recent years. Not even the Agriculture and Fisheries Depart- ment has been able to rescue many of the pine trees under attack throughout the territory. As a result, the Gardening Section has stopped planting new pine trees, leaving the existing stock as the only available source of such trees. Meeting the horticultural needs of the newly established Shaw College is the Gardening Section's latest challenge. It is an especially difficult task as the Shaw College campus is particularly windy, has little topsoil, and is relatively far from the central campus, where resources are concentrated. However, despite such unfavourable factors, Mr. Yau says that the Section will strive to create a beautiful environment for the staff and students to enjoy within a few years' time. Who produce the potted plants and flowers? To discharge their responsibilities, Mr. Yau's 40 or so staff members are divided into subgroups, each assigned specific aspects of campus horti- cultural care. One sub-group is responsible for trimming and plant care, as well as growing potted plants and flowers. The demands they must meet are considerable. One of these is the constant 7