Clemson University Landscape Design Students
Partner with Mt. Zion to Study Sustainable Landscape Designs

Students in a Problems in Landscape Design class at Clemson University partnered with Mt. Zion United Methodist Church to develop a custom landscape design using a methodology that can be followed by other religious institutions around the country. The goal of the project was to research, analyze, design and communicate ideas about how meditation, memorial, and memory gardens gardens, habitat gardens, parking lots and other spaces can be created incorporating principles of sustainability for a community religious institution.

Students researched topics such as sacred spaces, meditation gardens, plants of the
Bible, the role of gardens in religion and the use of water as a metaphor in religion. They also
identified practical problems that religious institutions face, such as how to design parking
lots that accommodate large numbers of vehicles only one day of the week. After identifying
problems, they proposed creative solutions to design such areas in an environmentally
friendly manner.

A committee chaired by Dr.Ansel Miller will spearhead the future installation and maintenance of the garden.