Certificate in Holistic Landscape Design
Mission: The certificate in holistic landscape design program allows students to build upon their knowledge of medicinal and edible plants and apply this knowledge to building sustainable landscape solutions that benefit the earth and the human community.
The courses in the certificate in holistic landscape design program are offered on evenings and weekends. The program instructs students on permaculture concepts and cultivation of medicinal and edible plants. Students who complete the program can develop sustainable landscapes that benefit the environment and provide utilitarian resources for the community.
Expected Program Outcomes
Following are the learning objectives for students in the holistic landscape design program:
- Create site specific landscape designs that utilize graphic representation to communicate effectively about design ideas.
- Apply sustainable landscape measures creatively, designing for multiple functions, including biodiversity, therapeutic utility, and aesthetics.
- Integrate permaculture ethics, principles, and techniques for sustainably modifying land and implementing designs using the permaculture design process.
- Utilize knowledge of soil science and mycology to create healthy soil systems.
- Practice client interaction and professional presentation through engagement with implementation, design and internship sites.
- Demonstrate horticultural techniques, including plant propagation and cultivation from native and analogue climates for landscape design, nursery or market production.
- Evaluate professional and community applications of holistic landscape design through exposure to research, grant writing and business planning.
Admissions
Applicants must have a minimum 2.75 cumulative GPA. Prior to enrolling, students must have completed 90 quarter credits (60 semester credits) of college-level coursework. Including one Introductory Botany course, or equivalent.
Strongly Recommended Courses
Though not required for admission, the faculty recommends that students complete biology, chemistry, public speaking, and general education coursework in addition to the botany prerequisite requirement. These courses will substantially enhance students’ ability to be prepared for the concepts covered in the holistic landscape design program. Please see additional details regarding these recommendations:
- Biology – covering cell and plant biology, no labs required
- Introduction to Botany – basic plant morphology and physiology, classification, plant evolution, and ecology, no labs required
- Chemistry – survey-level to cover general inorganic and organic concepts, no labs required
- Public Speaking - coursework or experience
- General Education - including some humanities, English, natural sciences and social sciences courses
The curriculum tables that follow list the tentative schedule of courses each quarter.
YEAR I
Fall
| BO4118 | Botany and Plant Identification | 1.5 |
| BO4123 | Soil Ecology | 1 |
| BO4127 | Mycology | 1 |
| BO4131 | Permaculture 1 | 3 |
| BO4141 | Medicinal and Edible Plants in the Landscape 1 | 1 |
| Total Credit Hours: | 7.5 |
Winter
| BO4132 | Permaculture 2 | 3 |
| BO4135 | Organic Greenhouse and Nursery Management | 1 |
| BO4137 | Horticulture Research and Grant Writing | 1 |
| BO4142 | Medicinal and Edible Plants in the Landscape 2 | 1 |
| Total Credit Hours: | 6 |
Spring
| BO4124 | Medicinal Plant Harvesting, Processing and Use | 1.5 |
| BO4133 | Permaculture 3 | 3 |
| BO4143 | Medicinal and Edible Plants in the Landscape 3 | 1 |
| BO4809 | Holistic Landscape Design Internship | 1 |
| Total Credit Hours: | 6.5 |
Summer
| BO4134 | Organic Seed Production | 1 |
| BO4138 | Biointensive IPM and Plant Health | 2 |
| BO4139 | Permaculture in a Global Context | 1 |
| BO4144 | Horticultural Business Practices | 1 |
| BO4810 | Holistic Landscape Design Practicum | 1 |
| Total Credit Hours: | 6 |
Total Requirements
| Total Core Course Credits |
26 |
| Total Requirements |
26 |
Curriculum and course changes in the 2024-2025 Bastyr University Catalog are applicable to students entering during the 2024-2025 academic year. Please refer to the appropriate catalog if interested in curriculum and courses required for any other entering year.