Lincoln College To Offer Courses In Landscaping

Press, Volume CVI, Issue 31113, 16 July 1966, Page 19

Lincoln College To Offer Courses In Landscaping

Lincoln College is to institute courses in landscaping. Professor T. M. Morrison, professor of horticulture, said yesterday that a two-year post-gradu-ate course for a diploma in landscape design to start in 1968 would be the only one of its kind in Australia and New Zealand. A year later the college will also institute a one-year course for a certificate in landscape design.

Mr S. Challenger, senior lecturer in horticulture at the college, who will supervise the diploma course, will leave in a month's time for two years specialist training at the department of town, and country planning at theUniversity of Newcastle. ; Professor Morrison said that the aim of the postgraduate course would be to train professional landscape designers who would work with engineers and archite.ts in planning main highways,

bridges, power schemes and major buildings and in land use for recreation in forest and national parks. It was hoped, he said, that they would take part in initial planning to fit construction to landscape or landscape to construction. Entry For entry into the postgraduate course, Professor Morrison said, students would be required to have the prior qualification of a degree in horticulture, engineering or architecture or a diploma in fine arts. Students will study subjects including design, form and structure, the history and theory of landscape design, the use of landscape, soil and water engineering, landscape construction, plant ecology and use. planting design, horti-, culture practice, professional practice and the law relating to landscape. Professor Morrison said that the course, which would be very similar to that offered by the University of Newcastle, would be taught in conjunction with departments of the University of Canterbury and notably the School of Fine Arts. Up to 10 a year may be admitted to the course. Need for Course Discussing the need for such a course. Professor Morrison referred to the recent decision of the Christchurch Regional Planning Authority! that its Director of Planning,! Mr C. B. Millar, should investigate the appointment of a

consultant landscape designer to report from time to time on the over-all scheme design for landscaping and treatment of the whole Christchurch motorway system. Mr Challenger said he did not know who they would get in the country to fill this position. He added that there was a shortage of landscape designers throughout the world and there could be interest overseas in this course. Professor Morrison said that England was short of some 30 to 40 landscape designers at present.

Certificate Course The one-year course leading to the award of a certificate of landscape design would be open to holders of horticulture diplomas and the National Diploma in Horticulture, said Mr Challenger Subjects would be taken from the full diploma course and the certificate course would be taught in conjunction with the diploma course.

Professor Morrison said that certificate holders would be mainly employed in landscaping at the domestic level —on farm properties, house properties and in parks and reserves.

With these two courses the college will also offer a landscape advisory service like its farm advisory service. This service, Mr Challenger said, would be able to give the top professional landscape advice in the country. Professor Morrison said that if the college was called in as consultant on a project like the motorway, the advisory service would perform this function, and it would also provide a landscaping service for farm and station properties and also for domestic landscaping. Mr Challenger said the college regularly received inquiries for such service from farmers mainly private persons and also factories.