Dorothy Murnan, one of OU's landscape specialists, has planted hundreds of trees and thousands of flowers around campus in the 20 years she has worked here.

"I could take you around campus and point out, 'I planted that and that and that,'" she said Tuesday as she sat in the lush green grass she helped cultivate on the South Oval. Her tan-colored skin bears witness to her life-long occupation as a gardener.

"I don't think you ever forget when you plant a tree," she said.

Her caretaking covers the South Oval, the formal garden east of Bizzell Memorial Library and the block of land from the Gaylord College of Journalism and Mass Communication to Richards Hall. She cultivated the mums on the South Oval that celebrate Homecoming Week.

Murnan said OU gardeners aren't working for the money. They are working because they love their job.

"There has to be a reason why you're doing it," she said. "It's not for the money; it's a passion. I don't think I could find a job that fulfills me as much as this one."

Some landscapers view gardening as just a normal job, Murnan said. She said she works hard at it because she loves it.

"For some of us out here, it's really important to us; it's a part of us," she said.

Gardening is in Murnan's blood. While she was growing up, she said she always felt out of place indoors.

"I just always have been an outdoors person," she said.

She worked in her mother's garden instead of helping out in the kitchen.

"I guess it's just part of my personality that I got from my father and grandfather," Murnan said.

Her grandfather was a landscaper for a funeral home, and her father owned his own nursery.

"I guess that's where I get a lot of my experience, just working with my dad," she said.

Her co-workers agree she knows her stuff.

"She's been around greenhouses and landscaping all her life, so if you ever have a question, just ask her," said Jimmi Farrar, an OU gardener.

Murnan loves working with new types of plants. This is one of the advantages of working for OU, she said.

When plants have problems, Murnan enjoys figuring out what's wrong.

"You may think it's a certain fungus, and it's not -- it's another," she said.

Although she never finished her degree at OU, she said if she went back to school she would want to learn about plant pathology.

Murnan's co-workers describe her as dedicated and friendly.

"She's a real caring person, very dedicated, whether it's on a personal level or [landscaping]," said Brandon Brookins, Murnan's landscaping supervisor.

Each person in the landscaping department relies on the others for help.

Farrar said he remembers a time when Murnan helped him trim the hedges even though they weren't in her area.

"You don't see gardeners out here on the weekend, but Dorothy's out here seven days a week," he said. "The mums are "her babies from when they go to the ground to [when they bloom]."

Murnan works hard to see that her plants grow well, Brookins said.

"It's up to me to make them grow and stay alive," she said. "These plants need attention when they need it, not when it's convenient to you."

Farrar remembers a time when Murnan was tilling a bed on the South Oval. Thinking it was shut off, Murnan let go of the tiller.

"It wasn't shut off, and it took off," Farrar said. "All the students were laughing too, and they had to run after it and chase it down."

Murnan said she enjoys working with students during Arbor Week. She also appreciates it when students stop and help her.

Students will stop to talk to her at least once a day and tell her how beautiful the grounds look, she said.

"It makes you feel good," she said. "It makes you feel like at least somebody's paying attention."
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