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The Wiley–Boone Aviary is a collection of domestic/exotic birds established at the Morgan Poulty Center at Clemson Univ. in the mid-1970s. The area receives 3000 visitors per year, mostly school children. To make the site more aesthectically pleasing and conducive to educational programs, a new design was necessary. The Aviary was selected for redesign as an independent project in Fall 1995. Objectives of the design were: 1) creating an area conducive to housing, attracting, and viewing birds; 2) educating visitors through interactive display areas; 3) creating a bird garden that will attract and educate the public while providing natural food sources, cover, and nesting sites. Plants such as Pyracantha coccinea, Amelanchier arborea, and Juniperus virginiana provide winter berries and protection from predators. Final plans feature: 1) individual aviary structures for exotic, game, and domestic birds; 2) open habitats for mallards and song birds; and 3) an amphitheater for educational purposes. Project steps included research, site analysis, preliminary design, and final master plan. As part of fund-raising activities, the master plan was displayed at the spring festival of the South Carolina Botanical Garden. This, combined with publications, will stimulate community awareness and participation as we approach the implementation phase of the project.
Several forms of computer technology have been successfully integrated into classes at Clemson University using Mac II computers and MacDraft software. Beginning students are producing professional looking plans with consistent line quality and individual graphic style. Plant selection for designs has been augmented through plant images contained on two videodiscs; Woody Landscape Plants of the Temperate United States and Clemson University Video Encyclopedia of Herbaceous Ornamental. Access is accomplished via MacRAPID© CU, a Hypercard© stack that also provides a linkage to MacCAPS© Terisan. With these two programs, the user can quickly select and view, based on specific criteria, plants suitable for a given landscape.
Abstract
Agriculture’s image has suffered of late. The media’s exploitation of news about farmer’s financial problems, movies like “Country” and “Places in the Heart” dramatizing families struggling to earn a living on the farm, and songs by singers such as Charley Pride lamenting that “if we can put a man up on the moon, why can’t we keep one down on the farm?” have contributed to a negative image. This image is extending to the whole of agriculture, and it is evident in bacculaureate enrollments, which declined by ≈30% in agriculture at land-grant universities between 1977 and 1983 (1).
An interdisciplinary team of Clemson Univ. faculty, graduate students, and undergraduate students partnered with the South Carolina Botanical Garden staff and children from the “Sprouting Wings” after-school garden program to plan and design a 2.5-acre Children's Garden. Imaginative and educational, the plans call for a series of outdoor theme gardens. Proposals for 13 theme gardens include a “Dinosaur Dig”, a “Food for Thought Garden”, a “Hide-and-Seek Garden”, a “Terraced Sitting Garden”, an “Ethnobotany Garden”, a “Wonders of Water Garden”, a “Learning from Nature Outdoor Classroom”, a “Carolina Fence Garden”, a “Cottage Garden”, a “Bold View Butterfly Garden”, a “Woodland Wonderland”, a “Playful Plaza Garden,” and an “Arbored Entrance and Exit Garden.” Project methodology included research, case studies, site analysis, program development, preliminary plans, master plan, and individual garden designs with plan views, elevation drawings, detail drawings, and plant lists. Using an experiential learning pedagogy, a design class of 15 students contributed an estimated 2,000 hours of work while learning about landscape design. Results included 30 drawing boards depicting research, analysis, and design proposals, which were presented to the South Carolina Botanical Garden Staff for approval in Fall 2003. Note: This material is based upon work supported by the cooperative State Research, Education, and Extension service, U.S. Dept. of Agriculture, under Agreement No. 2002-38411-122122. Any opinions, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in this publication are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the view of the U.S. Dept. of Agriculture.