Grounds Management
Manager: David Brahm, Manager of Grounds Management and Automotive Shop
Office Location: Facilities Management warehouse, Room 1.105
Office Phone: (210) 567-2906
The Grounds Management division maintains over 300 acres of Health Science Center property. It's mission is to maintain and develop a safe, functional, and attractive campus environment that is conducive to a positive and productive learning and working atmosphere. Some of the division's common duties and responsibilities are:
- Mowing, edging, and trimming of all turf grass and groundcover areas
- Daily trash pickup
- Fertilization of turf grass, trees, shrubs, and bedding areas
- Aeration of turf grass
- Top dressing turf grass
- Planting seasonal color beds
- Outdoor plant containers
- Mulching bedding areas
- Insect and weed control
- Pruning of trees, shrubs, and bedding areas
- Irrigation system
- Landscape and irrigation renovation
- Brush removal
- Asphalt repair
Landscape Maintenance Programs and Philosophy
- Use a diverse palate of native plant material to create an ever-changing campus landscape
- Incorporate unusual or new-to-the-market plants to create interest
- Integrate different plant textures, shapes, and colors
- Use the correct plant in the correct place and plan for future growth
- Take advantage of micro-climates
- Each campus has its own landscape identity
- Ease of maintenance
- Safety
Services Offered
Interior plant installation and maintenance
- Public areas
- Atriums at Nursing School and Administration Building
Greenery and flower set-up
- Graduation ceremonies on and off campus
- Special functions
Maintenance of recreation facilities
- Softball field
- Sand volleyball courts
- Tennis courts
Water Conservation
Grounds Management practices water conservation based on the following principles:
- Use only plants appropriate to the climate and geographical area whenever possible
- Perform irrigation audits to determine:
- Precipitation rate
- Uniform distribution of irrigation system
- Soil texture
- Topsoil depth
- Determine schedules based on appearance and location of turf grass
- Use rain sensors on irrigation controllers to prevent waste
Since water sprinkler heads may become damaged due to mowing or other maintenance, the damage may not be evident until later. Please notify our Work Control Center at 567-2885 if you observe problems with any of our irrigation systems.
Automotive
Facilities Management maintains an automotive garage to perform minor repairs, tune-ups, state inspections, and preventive maintenance on FM-owned vehicles as well as university-owned vehicles when requested. 
These vehicles include the traditional gas-powered as well as alternative-fuel and electricity-powered vehicles such as golf carts, the Toyota Prius Hybrid, and electric utility vehicles used by Facilities craftsmen to transport materials and equipment to job sites. As part of the Grounds Management division, the Auto Shop performs repair and maintenance work on lawn mowers and edgers, trimmers, and tillers.
Manager, Grounds Management and Automotive
David Brahm | 567-2906 | brahm@uthscsa.edu
Request Service:
Visit our 'Request Work Online' page to initiate a service request.
Hours of Operation:
Monday-Friday, 7:45 a.m.-4:15 p.m.