There is a deep “botany pond” on the south end of...

Photoset - Permalink

There is a deep “botany pond” on the south end of BYU campus. As far as I can tell, the botany part comes in with the bald cypress trees (Taxodium distichum) that are planted there. They keep getting more buttressed and put up more “knees” every year. I remember taking a life science class where the professor said that the grounds department always received anxious calls every autumn about the trees’ health when these deciduous conifers drop their needles. I was always more concerned about the compacted soils at the pond’s banks from the hundreds of visitors to the pond. On my last visit, I was pleased to find that the landscapers heeded my unspoken concerns and installed a boardwalk around the pond to protect the trees. If they would install marginal/bog plants, and put in a pellet machine for the duck population so they would get something more nutritious than bread, we’d be talking.