Syllabus Hort 389 - Spring 2016 -- Subject to change
Instructor
Email:
Dr Margaret C Hoffman
MC-Hoffman@wiu.edu
Office: KH 315
Phone #: 298-1089
Office Hours: MW 2:30 – 3:30
T , Th 2:00 – 3:00
Class Time: M & W 3:30-4:50, Knoblauch 226
No Required Text
Course Description:
Hort 389 , Home Horticulture is a course which develops the student’s ability to
understand the processes, techniques, and theories that form the basis of home
horticulture the student will learn the fundamentals of designing, planting, and
maintaining gardens and the home landscape, including landscape plants, lawns, tree
fruits, small fruits, flowers, vegetables, and house plants”
By means of lectures, field exercises, assignments, and recommended readings, Hort 389
will present the following:
Course Objectives
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
Proper plant selection for the geographic location of the home
Soil preparation for establishment of plantings
Know the basics of seeding, growing transplants cuttings, and planting
Know the basics of planting and maintaining trees and shrubs
Avoiding common mistakes in the garden and landscape
Become familiar with resources available for gardeners
Understand storage and processing of fruits and vegetables for home use
Attendance: ATTENDANCE IS A MUST!!!!!!!! We are professionals! Students must
be prepared to interact, analyze, and discuss topics relating to course assignments.
Absenteeism will impede your success on assessments and course assignments.
Professional dress is a must every time you conduct a presentation.
Late assignments will be deducted 10% a day starting at the end of the class period for
which it was due. After a week the assignment will not be accepted unless arrangements
were made with the instructor. All assignments will be types, or they will not be
accepted. Assignments will be written using 12 point font and 1” margins. Spelling and
grammar and professional appearance of the document are critical.
Please turn off or silence cellular phones and no texting during class time or the
instructor may ask for it to be returned to the student after the class period!
Student Rights & Responsibilities: www.wiu.edu/provost/students/
ADA Compliance:
In accordance with University values and disability law, students with disabilities may
request academic accommodations where there are aspects of a course that result in
barriers to inclusion or accurate assessment of achievement. To file an official request for
disability-related accommodations, please contact the Disability Resource Center at 309298-2512, disability@wiu.edu or in 143 Memorial Hall. Please notify the instructor as
soon as possible to ensure that this course is accessible to you in a timely manner.
Academic Dishonesty:
Any violation of the Academic Dishonesty Policy in Student Handbook will result in an
automatic failure in the course. Plagiarism and cheating are areas of concern for this
course. This course is designed to enhance your writing skills within your academic area,
not the ability to copy other’s thoughts and ideas.
Grading Scale:Please review the plus/minus grading scale on western on-line. It is also
important to note that any unexcused missed assessment, the student will be able to
retake the assessment, but only 85% of the score will count.
Absences: If at any time you have a family emergency, funeral, or just not feeling well,
please use the OARS system to report your absence (www.wiu.edu/oars). I will need the
email generated from this system prior to class and not after. If I receive the email after
class has ended then the late grade policies come into effect.
Attention Education Majors:
The changes within the state certification require all education majors to receive a grade
of a "C" or better in this course in order to meet these new requirements. With the
university +/- grading system, receiving a "C-" or below will require you to retake this
course or find a substitute course to meet School of Agriculture graduation requirements.
Class Structure
This class will have a mix of lectures, guest speakers and field work. There will be
several large projects and opportunities for hands on application of principles..All
Lecture powerpoints will be available online. If students do not review the material
before class I will initiate daily 5 pt quizzes. I will have every powerpoint loaded in
advance of the class and expect all students to review the material before class. In that
way we can explore questions and discuss issues during class. Each student will also be
required to produce a YouTube video or blog post explaining and demonstrating
knowledge of a home horticulture practice. The videos and/or posts will be turned in to
the instructor for review, revised by the student and posted on a WIU Horticulture blog.
Both the videos and blog posts should be an important component of each student’s
portfolio when they enter the job market. We will have a speaker in class to explain how
to produce effective youtube videos and blog posts.
Assignments
Projects Used for Evaluation
Subject
Veg Garden Design
Assigned
2/10
Due
2/17BOC
Calculating fertilizer needs
Water in the Landscape
Landscape Design
List of ornamental plants
3/9
3/30
4/11
4/20
3/9 EOC
4/6
4/24 BOC
4/25 BOC
BOC: Beginning of class
EOC: End of class
Hort 384
Lecture Schedule “subject to change”
Date
Lecture
1/20
Intro to Home Hort
1/25
Botany and Anatomy
1/27
Floral structures, veg and sexual
reproduction
Veg and reproductive plant morphology,
plant propagation Quiz
Field exercise
2/1
2/3
2/8
Spring 2016
Assignment
Propagation of woody plants
from cuttings (expt 1: 30 pts)
2/10
Growing veg for transplanting and for
consumption
Designing a veg garden
2/15
growing vegetables vertically
Greenhouse
Veg production
assignment: 20 pt veg garden
design
Greenhouse
2/17
2/22
Hydroponics Quiz 2
aquaponcs
greenhouse
greenhouse
2/24
Tree fruit for the home orchard
2/29
Pruning trees and shrubs
3/2
Pruning apple trees,
Field pruning
3/7
Properties of Soil: Texture, pH, fertility
Fertilizers Quiz 3
Calculating fertilizer needs
Activity
3/9
3/14
3/16
3/21
Spring break
Spring Break
3/23
Weeds in the landscape and their
control
Turfgrass management
Water in the home landscape QUIZ 4
Permaculture for the home
3/28
3/30
4/4
Assignment 20 pt (Western
Online)
IPM
Assignment 20 pts
activity
4/6
4/11
4/13
4/18
4/20
Composting and vermiculture
Landscape design
Pollinators, Chris Enron
Water features Quiz 5
Perennials and annuals, ornamental
grass
4/25
427
5/2
Woody ornamentals
5/4
Class project due (100 pt)
Finals week
Final
Planting and division
Quiz 6 review
Grading:
Exam (6)
Final
Assignments
Class Project
Experiment
Lab notebook (activities)25
Youtube or Blog
Field trip
Design assignment 20 pts
Develop a list of your top 20
ornamental home landscaping
herbaceous plants 20 pts
Field exercise
25 pts
100
varies
100
50
5
50
TOTAL
150
100
80
100
50
120
50
650
1/26/16