If you're looking for a great place to study landscape architecture, you should consider putting down roots in Louisiana. Want to know why?
Why You'll Dig Studying Landscape Architecture in Louisiana
by H.L. Staples
Despite the hurricane, life still comes up roses in Louisiana. Dr. Allen Owings, an ornamental horticulture specialist with Louisiana State University, reports that Louisiana's green industry rakes in over $2.2 billion a year for the state. Just the production of nursery plants digs up $100-120 million a year. Sounds like a fine spot to attend landscape architecture school.
The south is celebrated for its gardens, and you'll find many beautifully cultivated sites throughout Louisiana. Some bloom as part of world-class landscape architecture design in the state's largest cities--Baton Rouge (224,097), New Orleans (187,525), and Shreveport (198,675)--and others within private plots in historic parishes like St. Francisville (1,712). Baton Rouge in particular offers a "botanical joy," as Thomas Gaine dubbed the local university campus when listing it among the 20 best in the country.
Surveying Baton Rouge
As part of the university, Baton Rouge houses an agricultural center, The Louisiana Agricultural Experiment Station, which supports research on ornamental plants grown to enhance the urban landscape. The Burden Center, a 420-acre facility, maintaining 15 acres of formal gardens and 150 acres of forest, is part of the university's agricultural center. Students of landscape architecture design will find ample opportunities for assistantships, internships, and inspiration at the Burden Center and at any one of agricultural center's 20 research stations.
Nurturing Your Career
In every field, you need to make contacts, and professional organizations offer one avenue. Louisiana Nursery and Landscape Association (LNLA) is the state's most well known green-industry related organization, participating in three major trade shows in the southeastern U.S. LNLA also hosts educational programs for Louisiana's green industry professionals, including landscape and lawn maintenance workshops and the well-attended Louisiana Plant Materials Conference.
Not Just Fun and Gardens
Most of us are familiar with the idea of horticulture bestowing charming flowers and delicious fruits. But horticulture can also provide fortification during natural disasters, particularly in vulnerable coastal regions like Louisiana. Scientists from one of Louisiana's university agricultural centers have started planting vetiver grass as part of a research project meant to evaluate the grass's ability to safeguard the Gulf Coast's earthen levees.
Louisana's colleges and universities range from local small community colleges to large research institutions, so you'll find a great selection of educational opportunities. Plus, the state offers remarkable wildlife and wetlands. Known as "The Sportsman's Paradise," Louisiana has been called the best place to find yourself outdoors. What better place to study landscape architecture?
Sources
LSU Ag Center, "Inaugural Field Day Held at New Burden Center Facility"
LSU Ag Center, "Horticulture in the City"
LSU Landscape Architecture
Louisiana Nursery and Landscape Association
Wikipedia, "Louisiana"
Wikipedia, "St. Francisville, Louisiana"
About the Author
H.L. Staples has degrees from the University of Georgia and Syracuse University. Her articles have appeared in the Boston Review, Denver Quarterly, The Georgia Review, and elsewhere.