Aimed primarily toward soils and plant growth, and taught collaboratively by a landscape architect and an urban ecologist, this course provides basic understandings of soils in natural, human-impacted, and constructed landscapes. Students will be introduced to modern principles of soil science and ecology and the application of this knowledge to working with soil and other plant-growing media involved in the process of designing, constructing and maintaining or curating urban landscapes. Throughout the course, students will examine and critique impacts on soil health and plant performance by current practices within landscape industries, primarily within urban, post-industrial environments. Fieldwork and hands-on learning will be emphasized throughout the course, particularly in the three assignments. We will touch, smell, dig, and draw soil. Students will be introduced to methods for soil sampling and testing, characterize soils across different landscapes, and relate soil conditions to aspects of landscape performance (e.g. carbon storage, plant health). Through coordinated lectures, labs, and field exercises, students will develop field-based skills that may be applied to site assessments and inform their design practice. Though global conditions will be touched upon, the course will focus on practices within the United States.  

The course is broken into two parts:  1) Soil Science, Ecology, and Fundamentals 2) Current Culture and Landscape Design Practices, Critiques, and Explorations of Potentials.  

SOIL SCIENCE, ECOLOGY ANDFUNDAMENTALS will include lectures and readings on soil formation, characteristics, chemistry and ecology, and plant-soil relationships, the role of carbon and carbon sequestration, and emergent trends in urban soil science. Students will be introduced to methods for characterizing soil and assessing soils in the field. This will segue into human practices and the development of modern soil science dedicated to plant growth. 

CURRENT CULTURE, PRACTICE, CRITIQUES AND POTENTIALS will focus on the approaches to soil evaluation and the collaborative plant-soil-related practices used in the design, gardening, and landscape construction industries today, and will include deep critiques and potentials for improvement or innovation.  Topics covered will include hidden implications that can be found within historic soils maps; soil testing processes; soil design typologies; soil blending processes on and off-site, compaction ranges and the relationship between and structural properties to support buildings and structures and conditions required for plant growth and ecological health; effects of potable water chemistry and circumstances involving chemical contamination and the role of phytoremediation; and newly developing circular economies through recycled components and biochar.  We will also cover processes like soil procurement; design documentation nuances of soil plans, details, and specifications; and field quality control during construction.   
Assignments will involve fieldwork, investigative research and soil testing. 

There are no pre-requisites for this course.