Imagine working outdoors, creating award-winning landscapes and learning about plants while perfecting management and business skills.

This can be found in a life-long and rewarding career as a landscape management major within the college of Biology and Agricul-ture.

Landscape management, a relatively new program at Brigham Young University, is highly respected among its professional commu-nity and often turns into an equally profitable career.

Horticulture is the art and science of cultivating ornamental plants, turf, fruit and vegetables. The landscape management program prepares students to focus on the creation and maintenance of interior and exterior landscapes that are both beautiful and environmentally sound.

Phil Allen, a notable professional and dedicated professor in the landscape management program, gets excited seeing his students’ successes. While talking with professionals, he carries a book of his students’ resumes to help line up internships and jobs for them.

“I love helping students network and make connections in the professional world,” said Allen. “These are the most highly recruited students in the country. Rarely a day goes by without someone in the industry calling and saying ‘I hear you’ve got great students.’”

Opportunities to join plant and animal science professors completing research projects in places such as Guatemala, Switzerland, Morocco, Israel and places across the United States make this and other programs appealing to many students.

The program currently has over a hundred students, all of whom must complete an internship and contribute to the nationally recog-nized landscape design of the BYU campus. Last fall, BYU was honored with the America in Bloom University Campus Award, earn-ing first place for its environmental awareness and overall beauty.

Additionally, students study courses such as Residential Landscape Design, Plant Growth and Reproduction, along with several busi-ness-related courses including Agribusiness Management.

The landscape management program has been the recipient of national recognition and awards. In 2006, Brigham Young University hosted the annual Professional Landscape Network (Planet) competition, where universities from all over the country came together and competed for the best landscaped design. The competition, initiated in 1977, is frequented by BYU and its horticulture students, and is a prime career opportunity, as many recruiters attend from various organizations.

“Our goal is to be the very best program in landscape management that there is, while supporting the unique mission of BYU,” Allen said. “The department is way under-discovered. The faculty cares about students more than anybody I’ve seen at other institutions.”

“A lot of people don’t realize they can have a career in it [landscape management],” said Allen, “but it has the potential to be a highly profitable industry. Our students are increasingly seeing six figure salaries years after graduation.”

The stereotype the program often gets is troublesome to Allen: that it’s an uneducated business where all a person needs is a pickup truck and a couple shovels. In practice, it proves to be quite the opposite, he said, as it is a $72 billion a year industry and is constantly seeking educated managers.

“There’s a natural tendency to look at landscapers as uneducated. It couldn’t be further from the truth,” he said. “They need more people in all the levels of management. That’s where our students go. For students who love the outdoors, this is a great program. The opportunities in horticulture are endless.”

Allen said he hopes everyone can understand the importance of the program and how it improves the quality of life.

“We are teaching students to design and create landscapes that are beautiful and make the world a better place — it’s hard to not feel good about that,” he said. “When the Earth is renewed and receives its paradisiacal glory, more people will appreciate the importance of horticulture.”

Copyright Brigham Young University 5 Dec 2006