This research demonstrates the positive effects of gardens on the well being of those grieving the loss of a loved one in the United States. This project creates a guideline for constructing an effective memorial garden using components such as motion, stillness, privacy, community, plant choice, and other design elements. The author also includes a recommended plant list for the Midwest United States and reading recommendations for garden design.
Integrated Pest Management is a continually improving initiative that is beneficial to both conservation of beneficial insects and ecological health in urban Cincinnati. However, landscape industry employees and environmental policy-makers require education on the four main strategies of IPM in order to carry out this initiative. This project explains the emerging educational strategies that landscape industry employees and environmental policy-makers need in order to fulfill this initiative.
Access to fresh food and green spaces is vital for well-being, yet downtown Cincinnati remains a food desert. This capstone explores how integrating living art and edible plants into urban spaces improves people’s mental health and well-being. Through the design of a community garden and a living art installation, this project blends horticulture, public health, and art to promote food access, reduce stress, and foster community a vibrant, restorative environment.
Ohio currently has 2 extinct, 5 extirpated, 5 threatened, and 10 endangered bird species. 36% of the birds on the lists call the prairie landscape home. In the 1700s Ohio had over 1,000,000 acres of prairies, today it is less than 10% of it. This project inspires and teaches people to bring prairies back into the modern landscape and bring nature back into these areas where they have been pushed out.
The way plants have been utilized in interior spaces has shifted from stand-alone houseplants to incorporating them within functional aspects of the home. This can be seen in interior green walls and indoor gardening. This project expands how green design can be incorporated within home decor items that maintain functionality and promote interaction with natural elements to promote mental well-being. Proximity to the proposed plants has been proven to promote psychological well-being.
This project consists of taking an existing property in Anderson Township, Ohio that serves as an urban farm and community education center and incorporating a working arboretum into it. The project consists of a ten-year timeline of how the arboretum can be incorporated into the existing property with necessary upgrades. The property has existing trees and shrubs planted on it. This research illustrates the benefits of an arboretum.
Toledo, Ohio has been struggling with soil contaminants due to factories and improper building demolishment, such as burying the remains of the building. This research creates a protocol for using hemp (Cannabis sativa L.) in the form of phytoremediation, as well as sheds light on the history of hemp and its other uses, including fiber, food, and oil. This capstone explores a protocol that helps remove heavy metals from the soils in areas such as Toledo.
Horticulture therapy is using nature to aid in healing the mind, body, and spirit. We can use this to help ourselves, and those who served our country. Veterans who have symptoms of PTSD face a multitude of challenges everyday. Horticulture therapy provides complementary treatment that aids their healing from trauma, and helps them manage symptoms of PTSD. This research is about PTSD, and the effects horticulture therapy has on veterans today.
This research investigates if there is a meaningful correlation between those living in low-income areas and the state of the soil’s health. Specifically, the neighborhoods of Lower Price Hill, Winton Hills, and Walnut Hills in Cincinnati, Ohio, are examined regarding socioeconomic class related to the quality of life for those living in these neighborhoods to determine if any quantifiable disparities in the aforementioned neighborhoods are perpetuated by or a direct result of poor soil health.
