Creating the Urban Eden: Sustainable landscape establishment in theory and practice

Abstract

Creating the Urban Eden, a course taught jointly by faculty in Landscape Architecture and Horticulture at Cornell University, is a unique two-semester class spanning the academic year from August to May. Students face the task of creating viable, sustainable landscapes both in theory and practice. The success and sustainability of any planting design is ultimately dependent upon knowledgeable site assessment and analysis, appropriate plant selection, and clear communication of design intentions. This class teaches all aspects of landscape establishment, including detailed site assessment, woody plant identification, choice of appropriate plants, planting design, soil remediation, transplanting, and early maintenance in human-impacted landscapes. In addition to designing for a specific site, students learn about written specifications for technical planting and graphic details to communicate and implement design proposals. Every year on the Cornell University campus, the students in this class implement, in a hands-on manner, all aspects of landscape establishment that they have learned by creating new landscapes that serve to integrate theory, principles, practice, and provide a demonstration of fundamentals taught in the class.