Sustainable Landscape Management

This course is focused on foundational landscape maintenance practices with the additional dimension of sustainability. Content includes planting, soil care/preparation, pruning, general turf care, and pest identification and control. It explores how all these practices are adapting around sustainable standards, and also covers new approaches such as greenroof systems, living walls, gray water catchment systems, rain gardens, bioswales, water quality treatment with plants, phytoremediation (plants) and mycoremediation (fungi) techniques for treating contaminated soils to create more sustainable landscapes and green infrastructure. Students will gain an understanding of how these approaches work, what is involved to design and build them, how to assess construction materials and costs, and operation of basic maintenance equipment. NOTE: Up to three labs will require field trips off campus. Students are responsible for their own transportation to and from field sites.