On April 27, 1831, a committee of the board of trustees advertised in the Knoxville Register for proposals for fencing and landscaping the 40-acre campus (the Hill). The landscaping sought was for “100 good shade trees of Locust, Cedar or Mulberry set out” and an “avenue of Lombardy Poplars to the plank fence, including the gate.” The advertisement also indicated that the trustees were willing to lease the college grounds for five years “to be cultivated in blue grass and clover only.”
Following the Civil War, mostly students and alumni slowly replanted the battle-scarred Hill. More than one hundred elm seedlings from the campus of Yale University were planted between 1865 and 1877. In 1872 a “professional horticulturist,” Robert J. Cummings, was employed to plan and oversee restoration of the campus. Under his direction 166 “forest trees” and 163 evergreens were planted, and a rock wall was built along the creek. The labor for the improvements was primarily provided by students at a compensation rate of $.10 per hour. (In May 1872 the trustees allowed students to choose between working on the farm or on College Hill, but all students were required to work.)