Planting Design, Technology and Management (11843.1)

Please note these are the 2026 details for this unit
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Planting Design, Technology and Management
Available teaching periods Delivery mode Location
View teaching periods On-campus
 Bruce, Canberra
EFTSL Credit points Faculty
0.125 3 Faculty Of Arts And Design
Discipline Study level HECS Bands
School Of Design And The Built Environment Level 2 - Undergraduate Intermediate Unit Band 2 2021 (Commenced After 1 Jan 2021)
Band 3 2021 (Commenced Before 1 Jan 2021)
Plants constitute the "living infrastructure" for the city and are unique amongst other architectural materials because they grow and change over time, requiring specific knowledge to ensure that they perform. Because of this change, designing with plants is also different to working with other static materials. This unit introduces students to basic concepts in botany, ecology and horticulture and their implications for specifying the installation and maintenance of plants in a project, as well as introducing innovative greening technologies.

Learning outcomes

On successful completion of this unit, students will be able to:
1. Recognise plant morphology and use it to identify common plants used by landscape architects;
2. Understand soils and other plant growing media technologies;
3. Produce planting plans and installation and maintenance specifications; and
4. Appreciate issues and methods of managing plants in diverse landscape situations.


Graduate attributes

1. UC graduates are professional - communicate effectively
1. UC graduates are professional - display initiative and drive, and use their organisation skills to plan and manage their workload
1. UC graduates are professional - employ up-to-date and relevant knowledge and skills
4. UC graduates are able to demonstrate Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander ways of knowing, being and doing - apply their knowledge to working with Indigenous Australians in socially just ways


Prerequisites

None.

Corequisites

None.

Incompatible units

None.

Equivalent units

None.

Assumed knowledge

None.
Availability for enrolment in 2026 is subject to change and may not be confirmed until closer to the teaching start date.
Year Location Teaching period Teaching start date Delivery mode Unit convener
2025 Bruce, Canberra Semester 2 28 July 2025 On-campus Ms Gay Williamson
2026 Bruce, Canberra Semester 2 10 August 2026 On-campus Ms Gay Williamson
The information provided should be used as a guide only. Timetables may not be finalised until week 2 of the teaching period and are subject to change. Search for the unit timetable.

Required texts

There is no required text, and resources, where required, will be in UC Library or on Canvas, however the following will help students learn about growing plants in the Canberra environment as well as common species, and are readily available: 

  • Australian Native Plants Society Canberra Region Inc. Australian Plants for Canberra Region Gardens. 5th ed. Canberra: Australian Native Plants Society Canberra Region Inc, 2015.
  • Barrett, Russell, Meredith Cosgrove, and Richard Milner. Field Guide to Plants of the Molonglo Valley: Natural Temperate Grassland, Box Gum Woodland, Riparian Vegetation. Canberra: ACT Government, Parks & Conservation Service, 2018.
  • Le Mesurier, John, ed. The Canberra Gardener. 10th ed. Canberra: The Horticultural Society of Canberra, 2010.¿

The following are additional useful or interesting books

  • Capon, Brian. Botany for Gardeners. Portland: Timber Press, 2010.
  • Oudolf, Piet, and Noel Kingsbury. Planting: A New Perspective. London: Timber Press, 2013.
  • Pryor, Lindsay. Trees in Canberra. Canberra: Deprtment of the Interior, 1962.
  • Rainer, Thomas, and Claudia West. Planting in a Post-Wild World: Designing Plant Communities for Resilient Landscapes. Portland: Timber Press, 2015.
  • Raxworthy, Julian. Overgrown: Practices between Landscape Architecture and Gardening. Cambridge, Massachussetts: The MIT Press, 2018.
  • Robinson, Nick. The Planting Design Handbook. 2nd ed. Aldershot: Ashgate Publishing, 2004.
  • Thompson, Paul. Australian Planting Design. Melbourne: Lothian, 2002.

Students must apply academic integrity in their learning and research activities at UC. This includes submitting authentic and original work for assessments and properly acknowledging any sources used.

Academic integrity involves the ethical, honest and responsible use, creation and sharing of information. It is critical to the quality of higher education. Our academic integrity values are honesty, trust, fairness, respect, responsibility and courage.

UC students have to complete the Academic Integrity Module annually to learn about academic integrity and to understand the consequences of academic integrity breaches (or academic misconduct).

UC uses various strategies and systems, including detection software, to identify potential breaches of academic integrity. Suspected breaches may be investigated, and action can be taken when misconduct is found to have occurred.

Information is provided in the Academic Integrity Policy, Academic Integrity Procedure, and University of Canberra (Student Conduct) Rules 2023. For further advice, visit Study Skills.

Participation requirements

Tutorial activities inform Assessment 1B Forum Posts, so attendance is important.

Required IT skills

Utilisation of word processing software will be required for report, and while graphics skills would be helpful in relevant software for the planting design, it is possible to complete the task by hand.

In-unit costs

Car-pooling or other transport costs to visit local field sites for tutorials may be required.

Work placement, internships or practicums

None

Additional information

Wearing appropriate footwear and sun-protection during tutorials to field sites is recommended.

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