Plant and Soil Sciences - Environmental Soil Science


Landscape Horticulture and Design fuses the creative aspects of art and design with the technical and scientific aspects of horticulture. These two unique but equally rewarding fields encompass the analysis, planning, design, implementation and management of natural and built environments. Technology plays an important role in landscape horticulture and design - allowing today's professionals to use advanced tools to map out projects, perform detailed analyses, run businesses efficiently, and quickly revise and update designs and business plans.

Landscape Horticulture and Design

The LHD Program at Delaware
The goals of the Landscape Horticulture and Design major are to graduate students who are able to: evaluate sustainable practices related to the preservation of the environment; analyze the ways in which people, plants and soils interact with the overall environment so as to promote the conservation of natural resources; analyze plant and soil processes at the landscape scale; create clear and articulate oral and written presentations; analyze the role that plants and soils play in human experiences so as to promote the responsible management of the environment; and evaluate the applications of horticulture and design to the broader regional, national and global context.

Facilities and Resources
The College of Agriculture and Natural Resources houses the LHD major, and its 350-acre complex includes Townsend and Worrilow halls, several small greenhouses, a woodlot, a wildlife habitat trail, a library, and a fully equipped computing site that features a computer-aided design laboratory. Serving as a living laboratory, the 10-acre University of Delaware Botanic Gardens provides a unique setting for plant study and evaluation and opportunities for research, maintenance, internships, and design projects. The Fischer Greenhouse Laboratory is used in teaching and research, and our brand new design studio in Worrilow Hall has state of the art technology and equipment.

Enriching the Experience
To supplement coursework, students may choose to work on campus as a greenhouse or gardens assistant or to pursue research as a Science Scholar. Many take on design projects, or study abroad with the department in places like Brazil, Europe or Ecuador. Many students also join the Horticulture Club or the Design Interest Group, which sponsor plant sales, take field trips, and participate in professional development events.

Life After College
The careers Landscape Horticultureand Design alumni pursue are extensive and varied. Over 90 percent of our graduates work in the landscape horticulture field after graduation, in careers such as landscape design and installation; horticultural sales; greenhouse or nursery crop production; garden-center management; public-garden education and interpretation; and turf management. Our graduates have gone on to build their own businesses and to become directors of institutions like the Chicago Botanic Gardens and Longwood Gardens. While some graduates immediately enter the job market, others opt for graduate school to study such subjects as landscape architecture, plant biology, weed science, horticultural science and public-garden administration.

To assist students with their career plans, we offer career-preparation programs throughout the year, including workshops on resume writing, the job search, and how to prepare for graduate school. A spring career fair, which attracts more than 35 companies, allows students to network with prospective employers for full time jobs and internships.