Sustainable Landscape Management Course Information Sheet

This course is offered every Spring semester by MSU.  

New elements of landscape design require new methods of land management to restore or protect the ecological services provided by developed landscapes.  Students in landscape management programs are the future managers of large nursery and landscape maintenance operations, and need to be versed in techniques that make their operations and their clients’ landscapes more sustainable.  There is a great demand for these skills in the marketplace, as evidenced by the “greening” of the operations of numerous large landscape and nursery companies, as well as increasing pressure from federal and state agencies to improve on existing ecological outcomes in the landscape. Sustainable Landscape Management focuses on giving students the ability to make decisions based on ecological principles.

Expected Learning Outcomes:

Upon completion of this course, students should be able to:
1) Evaluate landscape sites with respect to available resources and ecological characteristics.
2) Evaluate water availability, quality and drainage issues related to a landscape site.
3) Determine how to best manage water on a site.
4) Understand techniques for retrofitting landscape sites to make them more ecologically sustainable.
5) Understand practices involved in nutrient management for increasing sustainability of a site.

The campus coordinator for Mississippi State University is Dr. Richard Harkess (richard.harkess@msstate.edu) and the course management system is Canvas.