Horticulture and Sustainable Landscape Design
Platforms
PC, Mac, *Chromebook, *iPad, *Linux, *Android
Length
Semester
Certification
Course Completion Certificate
Digital Badge Credential
CoA Certificate
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High School and Middle School Horticulture and Sustainable Landscape Design
Empower Students to Design the Future of Sustainable Outdoor Living.
The U.S. landscaping and horticulture industry is a powerhouse sector, valued at over $167 billion in 2025. However, the modern industry is undergoing a radical shift toward sustainability, climate-resilient plants, and advanced water management. Our Horticulture and Sustainable Landscape Design curriculum provides schools with a comprehensive, project-based pathway to prepare students for high-demand careers in this evolving field. This curriculum is designed to meet the rigorous requirements of national and state frameworks, ensuring your program is eligible for Perkins V funding and other CTE grants.
Why Districts Choose Our Landscape Design Program
A Focus on Sustainability and Xeriscaping
Traditional "mow and blow" landscaping is being replaced by high-skill sustainable design. Our curriculum teaches students the science and art of xeriscaping (water-conserving design), native plant integration, and ecological restoration. Students don't just learn to make things "look pretty"; they learn to create outdoor living spaces that add environmental and financial value to properties while respecting local topography and water resources.
100% Browser-Based Design Tools
High-end landscape design often requires expensive CAD hardware. Our program includes a Free Web-Based Design Suite, ensuring students can sketch, draft, and even explore 3D CAD modeling entirely on Chromebooks, Macs, or PCs. This cloud-native approach ensures that every student has access to professional-level creation tools regardless of their district's hardware budget.
The "Virtual Internship" Experience
We bridge the gap between classroom theory and workplace reality. Students operate within a simulated professional environment where they manage:
- Client Consultation: Analyzing a customer's tastes, needs, and local hardiness zones to recommend the perfect plant palette.
- Project Management: Calculating the real-world costs of labor, mulch volume, soil augmentation, and plant delivery.
- Professional Ethics: Understanding the legalities of intellectual property and the professional responsibilities of a landscape contractor.
The Learning Journey: Mastery from Sketch to 3D Blueprint
By the end of this course, learners will demonstrate a high level of technical and scientific competence:
- Plant & Soil Science: Conducting field soil tests (pH, N, P, K) and identifying plant nomenclature and growth characteristics over a 20-year span.
- Precision Documentation: Translating hand-drawn sketches into detailed scale drawings, blueprints, and 3D models ready for contractors.
- Applied Math for the Green Industry: Calculating complex area measurements, watering volumes, and fertilization ratios to ensure design longevity.
- Professional Sales & Presentation: Learning how to present a design to a client, explaining the long-term benefits of sustainable choices and ROI.
Lead the Way in Sustainable STEM Education
The green industry is searching for workers who understand the intersection of technology, science, and environmental ethics. With CTeLearning, you have the tools, the industry-validated standards, and the "Legendary Teacher Support" to give your students a head start on a fulfilling, high-wage career.
Request Your Free Demo Today and see how your students can start designing sustainable worlds.
Interested in learning more? Read our article on AI and Sustainable Landscape Design.
50+ VIDEOS
8 ASSESSMENTS
3+ PROJECTS
LOW COST CREATION TOOLS
What Teachers Can Expect Their Learners to Achieve
- Understand the landscape design process.
- Grasp the basics of landscape design, including textures, depth, scale, color, and style.
- Recognize what it takes to be a professional in the green industry.
- Understand the fundamentals of scale drawing, measurements, layout, and documentation.
- Demonstrate how to choose the correct plants to meet customer tastes and interests, aligning with sustainable design practices.
- Learn how to calculate the cost of plants, labor, and supplies as a landscape contractor.
- Learn how to present and sell a green design and its benefits to a potential client.
- Understand legal issues, including intellectual property.
- Create a career-ready portfolio of sustainable landscape designs that demonstrate an understanding of incorporating green approaches to various design challenges.
- Demonstrate an understanding of sustainable design practices that incorporate water management, plant choice, topography, structures, and natural or existing elements.
- Create working hand sketches, translated into detailed designs.
- Learn how to translate hand sketches into a 3D CAD system.
- Understand the differences between traditional landscapes and new green design concepts, including xeriscaping.
- Apply various math concepts to support sound design decisions, including calculating area, mulch volume, watering volume, and soil augmentation and fertilization.
- Learn how nurseries prepare plants for seasonal delivery.
- Learn how to conduct field soil tests and identify soil characteristics including pH, N, P, K.
- Understand plant growth characteristics and predict how the design will age over 20 years.
- Learn basic plant identification and nomenclature.
- Understand how plant choices, plant hardiness, and planting zones affect the long-term success of a design.
- Optional - Understand the basics of 3D CAD design.
Course Specifications
- Platforms
– PC, Mac, Chromebook
- Length – Semester or Year
- Career Cluster – Agriculture, Food & Natural Resources
- Industry Certifications – CoA Certificate
- Level – High School, Post-Secondary
- Course Delivery – Blended Learning, Online
- Student Competitions – Available
- CEUs – Available for Teacher Training
- Prerequisites for Facilitator – None
- Prerequisites for Students – None
- 3rd Party Tools – Free Tools Suite Included , 3D CAD Optional and Not Required
“I demo your curriculum during “Back to School Night.” Every year the parents are so impressed with the course. They really like the fact that their students are doing a, “Virtual Internship.” They also like how the curriculum is very interactive.”
-Marilyn Cunneen Marina HS, CA
“I kept thinking of how great it would be to integrate technology into the classrooms and apply it to elevant job skills. I waited a long time for someone to come up with a curriculum that would be rigorous and hold the interest and attention of students throughout the length of the course. Thank goodness, I Support Learning just did this.”
-Brad Schofield, Technology Teacher Campbell County High School, Gillette WY
"Parents tell me that when the students go home they are always talking about the class and about the ISL curriculum from which they learned. The teachers tell me how easy and flexible this curriculum is."
-Dr. Yusuf Al-Hassan Academy Administrator Kansas City, MO
“I have been working with CTeLearning for over 12 years now, so when you have chosen to use a company’s curriculum for that long, it shows what you think about their curricula and service.”
-Doug Devine North High School Eau Claire WI
“This is high level thinking at its best. I see skills and ability levels in here that I don’t see in other classes.”
-Randy Surline, MS Educator West Branch School District MI
“This curriculum allows the students to do a lot of thinking on their own and be creative.”
-Mike McAlloon Educator Wylie, TX
Frequently Asked Questions
Is the Landscape Design Software Browser-compatible?
NEED ANSWER
Does the Curriculum Include Sustainable Practices?
We focus on modern, eco-friendly design, including xeriscaping, native plant integration, and sustainable water management systems.
What Career Outcomes Can Students Expect?
Students graduate with a professional portfolio that qualifies them for entry-level design roles or advanced placement in collegiate horticulture programs.
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