USask students partner with local historical institution on beautification project
As part of the Fundamentals of Horticulture course offered by the College of Agriculture and Bioresources, students developed landscaping plans for the Western Development Museum (WDM) in Saskatoon to help beautify the grounds at the local historical institution.
Each year students in the course are assigned a landscape design project worth 15 per cent of their final grade. Students are tasked with preparing a design plan to be evaluated on how well the design is explained based on design principles, selection of plant material, quality of the design, general appearance of the overall design and budget.
Most years the course’s landscape design is based on a home yard but this year instructor Dr. Bob Bors (PhD) was inspired to partner with the WDM. The museum recently re-paved their parking lot and were interested in landscaping a section on the east side of the parking lot located near the small outdoor buildings. Bors proposed the idea of working with the class and the museum was immediately interested in the collaboration.
The 2019 fall term class of 40 students visited the Saskatoon WDM grounds to perform an on-site inspection of the area and interview the client to get a better understanding of their requirements.
"The Western Development Museum is thrilled to be working in partnership with the University of Saskatchewan on this landscaping project,” said Jason B. Wall, WDM Saskatoon Manager. "With the wonderful plans created by the students we are looking forward to the arrival of the spring construction season and the opportunity to transform elements of these plans into reality."
The second-year plant sciences course is an introduction to horticulture which teaches the economic, nutritional and aesthetic value of horticulture by emphasizing its importance and impact. Students are taught the concept of vegetable, fruit, turf grass, nursery and greenhouse production as well as being introduced to the practice of landscape design. Emphasis is placed on Saskatchewan production in relation to regional, national and international markets.
“I am always amazed what students can do with just two weeks of ornamental plant and landscape design classes,” said course instructor Dr. Karen Tanino (PhD). “Most students have never tried to draw a landscape design before.”
Another component of the annual assignment is supported by William Hrycan of Crosby Hanna Landscape Architect firm in Saskatoon. Every year on a voluntary basis, Hrycan and his associates transform the details of the selected property into a useable base plan for the assignment. The base plan accurately depicts the existing landscape, properly scaled to fit on a regular sized paper. It shows information such as house dimensions, distance to street, and the location of
The students’ design plans were reviewed by the WDM and the museum’s top donors, narrowing them down to six client’s choice awards. The top finalists included students Shannon Bickley, Robert J. Evans, Taylor Johnston, Kate Petersen, Dylan Saam-Derr, and Cary Wilson. Ideas from the six submissions will be incorporated into the final plan.
The multi-step beautification project at the museum is underway with the initial drawings. The WDM is now looking for community support to finance the first steps of construction.
For more information, contact:
Sue Scharf, Manager of Philanthropy
Western Development Museum
306-934-1409 (ext. 236)
sscharf@wdm.caa
Karen Tanino, Professor
USask Department of Plant Sciences
306-966-8617
karen.tanino@usask.ca