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Appraising Landscaping in Chukwuemeka Odumegwu 

Ojukwu University, Uli Campus, Anambra State, Nigeria 

 

By  

Chukwunonso O. Umeora, Boniface S.A Okoye, Oluchi C. Ifebi & 

Chijioke C. Onwuzuligbo 

 

 

ABSTRACT 

Amid the growing benefits for proper landscaping design and planning, there is the need 

for man to be in a decent, well-organised and aesthetically pleasing environment. This 

could add value to concentration of staff and students in the campus as well as provide 

relaxation points within the campus. The landscaping quality of Uli campus of 

Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu University deserves attention in view of its state. 

The objectives of this paper are to appraise the quality of the present status of 

landscaping in the campus and assess the perception of people on the quality of present 

landscape in the campus environment. This is with a view to providing a feedback for 

improved landscape management of the University campus environment. The 

methodology adopted for this research was survey design. The focus was on academic 

staff of the Faculty of Environmental Science of the university randomly selected from 

the research population. This selection was premised on their assumed knowledge of the 

subject matter. Data was collected from primary sources using questionnaires and 

observation schedules. Data analysis was done at the univariate level using Statistical 

Package for Social Sciences (SPSS). The outcomes show that the landscape 

environment within the campus is not in a good state. Some contributing factors to this 

were attributed to inadequate maintenance operations, inadequate provision of funds 

and inadequate equipment for maintenance operations, among others. The study 

recommends involving professionals in the built environment in the physical planning 

unit and works department of the institution to handle landscaping concerns within the 

campus, provision of enough funds for landscape improvement and maintenance 

operations, incorporating man-made features such as trash cans, street lights, sculpture, 

defined pedestrian walkways, paving and other road furnishings incorporated into the 

landscape. The university management may revive an existing landscape committee that 

would liaise with the horticulture unit of the faculty of Agriculture and have adequate as 

well as regular supply of new plants for possible replacement of dead plants and/or 

planting of new ones where they are desired. A redesign of the general landscape of the 

campus is desirable. 

Keywords: assessment, campus, landscaping, maintenance, university 

 



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INTRODUCTION 

Through designed landscapes, people can attain personal consciousness 

and responsibilities for the environment while letting go the pressures of 

everyday life. As such, landscaping plays a vital role in the quality of the 

environment as well as the physical and psychological wellbeing of the 

people. There have been tremendous changes in the building professions 

over time, as new advances brought new challenges that generate 

opportunities on the one hand, and present the probability of displacing 

those not prepared for it, on the other hand (Ogeye, Senibi & 

Akinboboye, 2019). 

Landscaping refers to any activity that modifies the visible features of an 

area including the living elements, natural elements and man-made 

elements, while the landscape is everything one can see looking across an 

area of land. Landscape design can be seen as the art of designing and 

management of the components of landscape (i.e. Landforms, water 

bodies, vegetation and man-made features) to make good outdoor spaces 

for aesthetic purposes, useful, healthy and enjoyable purposes through 

application of cultural and scientific knowledge with concern for 

resources preservation (Adekunle & Basorun, 2016). Landscape practices 

comprise of the designing, installation and maintenance of the landscape 

design. Ayeni, Olotuah and Adedeji, (2013) noted that landscape design 

compliments architecture and provides the opportunity to contribute to 

the aesthetics of an area in order to improve the built environment. In 

addition, the principle of landscape design is to fuse the buildings with 

the environment, to achieve a well-planned environment. 

 Landscape design, as a separate discipline and business, is becoming 

conspicuous in the Architecture profession in Nigeria. Landscaping 

practices constitute a form of trade, which can be a veritable source of 

livelihood while serving the function of beautifying the physical 

environment. This prospect is yet to be fully realized in the country.   

University campuses are expected to be distinguished in landscaping. A 

key way of achieving this is the use of well-defined landscapes, and these 

could be a means of attracting people to visit and to study. Good 

landscape design can, therefore, play a vital role in the enhancement of 

universities’ environments and open spaces, by creating a nexus between 

aesthetics and open space management (Adekunle & Basorun, 2016). In 

pursuance of this, University campuses ought to denote landmarks as 

spaces which indicate attractive spaces that represent campus identity, 

thus creating impressions of the campus environment as an exceptionally 



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distinct institution.  Unfortunately, poor attention has been given to the 

outdoor spaces around buildings in different university campuses in 

Nigeria. It can be shown that if considerable attention is given to the 

surroundings of the building structures, there will be in an improvement 

in the environment. 

Observations of the landscapes of university campus reveal such 

problems as the lack of outdoor landmark spaces, poor landscape design 

and poor landscape management. This situation naturally, negatively 

affects the associated academic and residential activities within the 

campus. For that reason, this study seeks to appraise the state of existing 

landscape in the campus, with a view to providing a framework/feedback 

for improving and sustaining the landscape management of the 

University campus environment. The objectives are to appraise the 

quality of the present landscaping in the campus and assess the 

perception of people on the quality of present landscape in the campus 

environment of Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu University, Uli 

Campus Anambra State. 

LITERATURE REVIEW 

WiseGEEK (2012) as cited in Ayeni, Olotuah and Adedeji, (2013) stated 

that landscape architecture is a branch of architecture that deals with 

planning and design of land and its relation to the building around it. 

Wright, (2008) defined Landscape design as an art with the function of 

creating and preserving the beauty in the surroundings of human 

habitations as well as broader natural scenery of the country. Architecture 

ought to transcend the designing of buildings, and incorporate the 

transformation of the physical environment through proper design.  This 

will improve the quality of the environment, as the combination of hard 

and soft landscape elements makes the environment ecofriendly.  

The art of landscape practice pulls together elements to create an 

aesthetically pleasing extension of interior to outdoor living spaces 

(Asiedu, Buah, & Blankson, 2010). Hard landscape elements are non-

living hard materials used by landscape designers to develop landscape 

designs. Examples of these are: rocks, stones, paving, gravel, steps, 

garden furniture and other man-made components of landscape. Soft 

landscape elements refer to living things brought into the landscape. 

Examples of these are plant materials such as: lawn, borders created with 

trees, flowers and shrubs (Ogunsote, Adedeji, & Prucnal-Ogunsote, 

2011).  



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Landscaping entails some of the following activities- growing/installation 

of plants, planning beautiful gardens, mow lawns, prune shrubs, erect 

fences (as enclosures), among others. Elf, (1996) as cited in Adekunle 

and Basorun, (2016) noted that a well-designed landscape helps to reduce 

erosion and global warming as well as prevent pollution of the 

environment. This is achieved since soft landscape elements used for 

landscape designs can improve air quality. Amongst several factors, 

landscaping, as an aspect of campus development and beautification 

needs to gradually gain acceptance and be transformed into a culture, 

which would gradually influence the university campus environment. 

Most of the plants that could be found on the University campus are 

native to the local environment, and could thus aid in the modification of 

the microclimate of the environment.  

Good landscape management involves right plants selection, appropriate 

timing of plantings and plant maintenance techniques, maintenance of 

hardscapes when broken, among others. These are important towards 

realizing an attractive environment. Principally, the selections should be 

based on the functional roles the elements would play in the landscape 

(Ayeni & Adedeji, 2014).   Maintenance involves the care and upkeep of 

the landscape after installation. Since landscapes change appearance and 

size over time, different types of maintenance works are required. These 

may include: weeding in lawns, replacement of dead plants, spraying of 

insecticides for insects and disease control, mowing of lawn, irrigation of 

lawn, repairing of paved surfaces, pruning of trees/shrubs, cleaning of 

fountains, repainting of outdoor furnishings and preventive maintenance 

on the equipment. Also of great importance is the quality of maintenance 

tools and equipment used in carrying out the exercise.  Some of the 

tools/equipment used in the maintenance can be grouped into 

sophisticated and simple equipment. Examples include hand trowel, 

shears, shovel, crosscut saw, rake, wheel barrow, transplanting hoe, 

mower, sprinkler, hedge trimmer, shears, and cutlass. 

STUDY AREA 

Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu University, Uli Campus, is situated 

in Uli, Ihiala Local Government Area of Anambra state. It is located on 

latitude 5˚46'11"N and longitude 6˚50'10"E. The University was 

established in year 2000 by the Anambra State Government with the 

name Anambra State University. The University was renamed to the 

current name in the year 2014. Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu 

University has three-campus arrangement – Igbariam (which is the seat 

of administration), Uli and Awka. There are six faculties in the Uli 



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campus and they are: Engineering, Natural Sciences, Physical Sciences, 

Environmental Sciences, Basic Medical Sciences and Education. The Uli 

campus has lecture halls/classrooms, laboratories, library, offices, hostel, 

chaplaincy, banks and other businesses.  

METHODOLOGY 

The sources of data for this study were primary and secondary. The 

primary data were obtained through the administration of questionnaires 

and observation schedule. The secondary data were obtained from 

documents and research materials on staff strength and university campus 

master plan. The target population for this study are academic staff of the 

Faculty of Environmental Science of the university. This selection was 

premised on their assumed knowledge of the subject matter. Samples 

would be taken from each of the departments that make up the faculty. 

Owolabi, Ogunsajo, Bodunde and Olubode (2020) stated that 

landscaping is greatly valued by people with education of the 

environment based on their knowledge of elements used and the 

important roles they play in man’s environment. 

Table 1 shows the numbers of academic staff of faculty of Environmental 

Science obtained from the university. 

 

30% of this research population was chosen as the sample size. In 

sampling ratio, St. Olaf College (2023) noted that for populations under 

1,000, a minimum ratio of 30% is advisable to ensure representativeness 

of the sample. This gives a figure of 12, so 12 copies of questionnaire 

were randomly administered across the lecturers across the four (4) 

departments in the faculty. 

 

FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION 

Types of landscape elements dominant on campus 



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The results shown in Table 1 indicate that 41.7% of the respondents 

stated that softscape elements were dominant on campus, 25% stated that 

hardscape elements were dominant on campus while 33.3% stated that 

both hardscape and softscape elements are balanced on campus. 

 

Quality of Landscaping Perception on Campus 

The data obtained show that bulk of the respondents (58.3%) rated the 

quality of landscaping on campus as poor, 33.3% rated it as very poor. 

Also, a small percentage (8.3%) of the respondents rated it as good. 

These are illustrated in Table 2. 

 

Factors Influencing the Quality of Landscaping on Campus 

Data analysis on the factors influencing the quality of landscaping on 

campus and the perception of the respondents vary. Majority of them 

(58.3%) are of the opinion that inadequate provision of funds affects the 

quality, 25% attributed the quality to lack of capacity to carry out 

landscaping maintenance operations. 16.7% opined that the factor 

affecting the landscaping quality is poor maintenance culture as shown in 

figure 1. Akin to this, 75% of the respondents noted that there are no 

landscape maintenance operations done on campus while 25% stated that 

landscape maintenance operations done as need arises. This finding is 



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consistent with the opinions of Forbes and Kindle (2013) which stated 

that landscape should be properly maintained to sustain its quality.  

Similarly, 83.3% suggested that both man-made elements and plant 

materials be incorporated into the landscaping to improve the beauty of 

the campus. 16.7% were of the view that only man-made elements are 

needed to improve the beauty of the campus.   

The usage of softscape and hardscape elements can aid in regulating the 

microclimate around buildings and outdoor environment within the 

campus. The use of these softscape elements –  trees and shrubs – is 

important in providing shades, wind breaking, improving air quality and 

adding to the beauty of the environment. The use of hardscape elements 

with less maintenance cost are important in order to prevent threats of 

floods and soil erosion as well as define car path within the campus.  

 

Type of equipment predominantly used in maintenance operations 

on Campus 

The results from the analysis on type of equipment predominantly used in 

maintenance operations on campus show that majority (91.7%) of the 

respondents stated that simple equipment are used in the maintenance 

operations. 8.3% of the respondents stated that sophisticated equipment 

are used in the maintenance operations as shown in Figure 2. The simple 

equipment identified are machete/cutlass, hand shears and hoe are used in 

maintenance operations. The sophisticated equipment identified normally 

used is the riding mower. 



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CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATION 

Proper landscaping practices have great potentials to uplift aesthetic 

status of campuses. There is the general acknowledgement of good 

landscaping as a suitable tool for improving environmental value of Uli 

campus, COOU. This can be achieved by devising a feasible idea to 

change the existing campus environment by the introduction of landscape 

features for good microclimate within the campus, neatness of the 

environment and for aesthetic purposes. Spaces that are not built up 

within the campus need to be designed and planned; structured 

management will entail proper maintenance practices. 

The maintenance routine practices should be reviewed so there could be 

improvement in the state of the landscape within the campus. This can be 

achieved by involving professionals in the built environment in the 

physical planning unit and works department of the institution to handle 

landscaping concerns within the campus. The professionals should draft a 

programme chart of landscaping features for the improvement and 

sustenance of the beauty of the campus. The university administration 

may need to allocate more resources (human and funds) towards 

improvement of the campus. They can plan the release of funds in 

tranches based on the planned chart. 

The equipment such as bush cutter, pruning shear, sprinkler, and hedge 

trimmer can be incorporated to the existing equipment in use for better 

output. Man-made features such as trash cans, street lights, road benches 

for sit-out, sculpture, defined pedestrian walkways, controls/ barriers 



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created to direct flow of movement, paving, road signs, etc can be 

incorporated into the landscape. Similarly, plant materials such as trees 

of diverse species, flowers of different colours, lawns should be 

improved upon to advance the aesthetic appeal of the campus. From the 

environmental point of view, these elements can serve as wind breakers; 

inhibit soil erosion and control ponding during the rainy season; as well 

as help to regulate the effect of global warming by maintaining in the 

atmosphere in the campus.  

Since landscaping practices constitute a form of trade, which can be a 

source of income, the university management may consider opening 

horticulture unit where plants can be grown in the nursery and sold to 

members of the public.  

References 

Adekunle, O.J. & Basorun, J.O. (2016). The Evolving Roles of 

Landscaping in Campus Space Management: Ekiti State Uni 

versity, Ado-Ekiti, Nigeria in Focus. Journal of Environmental 

Protection, 7, 1380-1388. http://dx.doi.org/10.4236/jep. 2016. 

710119 

Asiedu, J.B.K.; Buah, J.N. & Blankson, J.E. (2010). The landscape 

industry and practice in Ghana. Proceedings of the International 

Horticultural Congress on Science and Horticulture for People on 

Advances in Ornamentals Landscape and Urban Horticulture, 

 5(38), 1023-1032 

Ayeni, D.A. & Adedeji, Y.M.D. (2014) Controlling Urban Sprawl 

through Sustainable  Landscaping in Nigeria. In: Fadamiro, J.A., 

Olujimi, J.A.B. and Okedele, O. Eds., Urban Environmental 

Sustainability: Livable Cities. Urban Design Research Team 

(UDRT), Department of Architecture, School of Environmental 

Technology, Federal University of Technology, Akure, Nigeria. 

Ayeni, D.A.; Olotuah, A.O. & Adedeji, Y.M.D (2013). Appraising 

Landscape Design Education  in Architecture Departments in 

Nigerian Universities. International Journal of Education and 

Research, 1(5), 1-10 

 

Elf, D. (1996) Enhancing our Environment through Landscaping. VCE 

Publication, 429-721. 

 

Forbes, S. and Kendle, T. (2013) Urban Nature Conservation; Landscape 

Management in Urban Area, London, UK. E and FN spon and 

Imprint of Thompson Professional, 2-6. 

 

Ogeye, O.O.; Senibi, J.G & Akinboboye, O.O (2019). The Miseducation 

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Ogunsote, O.O., Adedeji, Y.M.D. & Prucnal-Ogunsote, B.P. (2011). 

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In: Cox, L., Ed., Proceedings of the 24th World Congress of 

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16-21. 

Owolabi, C.O., Ogunsajo, O.O, Bodunde, J.G., Olubode, O.O (2020). 

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St.Olaf College (2023). Sample size- institutional effectiveness and 

assessment. Retrieved from  www.stolaf.edu/iea/sample-size  

Accessed on 12/2/23. 

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on 12/11/12. 

Wright, R.T. (2008) Environmental Science: Toward a Sustainable 

Future. PHI Learning, New Delhi. 

 

 

Author Information: Chukwunonso O. Umeora is of the 

Department of Architecture, Chukwuemeka Odumegwu 

Ojukwu University, Anambra State, Nigeria. Email: 

co.umeora@coou.edu.ng 

 

 

Boniface S.A Okoye is affiliated to the Department of 

Architecture, Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu University, 

Anambra State, Nigeria. 
 
 

 

Oluchi C. Ifebi is affiliated to the Department of Architecture, 

Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu University, Anambra 

State, Nigeria. 

 

 

Chijioke C. Onwuzuligbo is of the Department of 

Architecture, Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu University, 

Anambra State, Nigeria. 

 

 

 

http://www.stolaf.edu/iea/sample-size
http://www.wisegeek.com/what-

