Sustainable Landscape

This seminar-format course will examine the issues that influence the process of landscape growth and development over time, focusing especially on the dynamic nature of plant growth, the inevitability of disturbance, and the unpredictability of climate variation. Topics for Coverage: 1) The dynamic nature of plant growth and its design implications 2) Reading trees: external form as a manifestation of internal physiology 3) The role of disturbance in designed landscapes 4) The issue of native versus exotic plants in the landscape 5) The problem of introduced pests and diseases 6) The principles and techniques of sustainable landscaping 7) Coping with drought in a moist-temperate environment 8) Polluted landscapes: soil, water and air pollution and their mitigation 9) Lawns and golf courses: history and ecology 10) Issues and techniques of historic landscape restoration PREREQUISITES:This seminar course presupposes a working knowledge of plant identification physiology as well as of basic plant ecology. Students must have completed Plants and Design (GSD 6215 or its equivalent.