Introduction
The goal of this co-taught course is to develop your appreciation of plants in the landscape while advancing knowledge and skills in applied planting techniques, documentation, and management protocols as distinct, yet integral, components of the landscape design and stewardship process.
In terms of outcomes, by the end of the semester, you will have:
- Gained experience in the horticulture and ‘ecoculture’ of conventional and emerging planting genres—the mixed bed, treed urban plaza, meadow, and hydric habitats, and other planted landscape contexts;
- Built technical abilities in species selection, planting and soils establishment methods, planting installation details, and adaptive management of the planted landscape;
- Gained fluency in contract documentation (CD) that accurately and clearly communicates project intents and standards to contractors and managers;
- Bolstered your understanding of progressive planting design theory that addresses aesthetic, ecological, and functional factors, and;
- Continued to develop your skills in AutoCAD and related digital media for conceptualization, visualization, and crafting of succinct instructions to the Contractor for planting implementation and management.
Resources
The following technical, design computing resources are required in order to successfully complete the course.
Course Technology and Standard Requirements

Design Computing and Visual Communication for Planting Methods

National CAD Standards

AutoCAD Text Heights and Scales
Module 1: Mixed Pollinator Garden

Demo – SketchUp Plant Form Visualization

Demo – AutoCAD Planting Plans & Schedules I

Demo – AutoCAD Planting Plans & Schedules II
Module 2: Treed Plaza

Demo – AutoCAD Site Layout
Module 3: Planted Meadow Ecosystem

Demo – 3D Visualization with SketchUp and TwinMotion

Demo – AutoCAD for Seed Mixes and Plugs
Supplemental Resources
The following is a list of resources, which I hope help you engage with no matter your experience prior to this semester.
Tim Johnson’s YouTube Channel (has Photoshop, SketchUp, AutoCAD, Lumion, and TwinMotion): https://www.youtube.com/user/tpj1psu/featured (Links to an external site.)
SketchUp:
- https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC50lv4EYY1N1_-B495meX8w (Links to an external site.)
- https://www.youtube.com/c/Thesketchupessentials (Links to an external site.)
TwinMotion:
- https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC7SX1ZsP8z6Va_rrBrPv3NQ (Links to an external site.)
- https://www.youtube.com/user/twinmotion (Links to an external site.)
Photoshop: