The University of Exeter’s campuses are acknowledged as the most beautiful and botanically interesting of any UK university.

Two Exeter campuses named as some of the best in the country

The Green Flag will fly over the Exeter campuses for the 6th year in a row as they are named amongst the best parks and green spaces.

The national award, run by environmental charity Keep Britain Tidy, has bestowed this award to both the Streatham and St Luke’s campuses, which have proved to charm the national body once again.

Streatham won the award for the sixth consecutive year, with St Luke’s winning it for its fourth time in succession. The Green Flag flying overhead signifies to visitors that the grounds are kept to the upmost quality, are wonderfully maintained and have excellent facilities.

The University of Exeter’s campuses are acknowledged as the most beautiful and botanically interesting of any UK university. The Streatham Campus is a registered botanic garden and both Exeter campuses display examples of the University’s national collection of Azara (a South American evergreen shrub). The grounds also feature high-quality sporting facilities for students, staff and visitors.

The St Luke’s Campus has a variety of formal landscapes such as the Quad, which includes picnic tables and benches for relaxation, along with seasonal floral displays, herbaceous borders, shrubberies, areas for sport and recreation and specific features for wildlife. There are also wild flower meadows, bug hotels and insect palaces adding to the habitats for wildlife.

Director of Grounds at the University of Exeter, Iain Park, said: “This year has been a particularly successful one with the Diamond Jubilee International Garden launch, which is now open for all to enjoy. This project has plants from across 5 different continents, showing the diversity and quality we have on show here at Exeter. The apprenticeship scheme has also proven to be a great success, where we have a good mixture of experienced and budding grounds maintenance staff.”

The Community Garden, founded in 2011 between the Grounds team and the Students’ Guild, alongside the “exemplary litter picking” were two noticeable achievements of the team. The Community Garden “is an excellent example of involving students and the community in horticulture and food growing.”

International Green Flag Award scheme manager Paul Todd said: “We are delighted to be celebrating another record-breaking year for the Green Flag Award scheme, especially as we celebrate the 20th anniversary of the Awards.

“All the flags flying this year are a testament to the efforts of the thousands of men and women, both staff and volunteers, who work tirelessly to maintain the high standards demanded by the Green Flag Award.”

A 29-strong team works on the grounds, nursery and outdoor sports facilities, 365 days a year. The work of the grounds staff includes the care of specialist plant collection, botanical specimen propagation, tree and arboricultural works, pot and bedding plant production, sports playing surface maintenance and floral decoration works.

Both campuses are open for everyone to enjoy and organised tours are also available for those wanting to learn more about the specific collections on display and how the grounds have developed since the 19th century, when some of the first planting took place.

Date: 21 July 2016