Plants for Ecological Design I
Plants for Ecological Design I covers native plants for ecological landscape design in urban and rural settings, focusing on resilient outdoor spaces and ecosystem services.
Summary
Recent recorded grades — Fall 2023: 3.61 GPA, 81.8% A/AB (n=33 letter grades); Fall 2024: 3.71 GPA, 79.3% A/AB (n=29 letter grades); Fall 2025: 3.67 GPA, 75.0% A/AB (n=20 letter grades).
What you’ll be able to do
Identify the aesthetic, functional, and cultural characteristics of key native plants of Wisconsin's forests, wetlands and grasslands as they appear in the field and use them together to create beautiful, resilient and high performing outdoor spaces that enhance human health and well-being and provide global ecosystem services.
Match the plant species used in design to the unique environmental conditions of each site so that they enhance and do not detract from beneficial ecosystem services.
Compile a personal plant portfolio consisting of hand-drawn sketches of woody and herbaceous plants and information on each plant's form, function, community interactions, habitat requirements, design attributes, ecosystem contributions, and cultivation and management requirements.
Select plants for a landscape design using a process that begins with and is guided by an understanding of the composition, structure, and dynamics of the natural plant communities found in the region.
Perform a literature review of current understandings of the ecosystem services provided by specific plants or propose an experiment or monitoring system to measure ecosystem services in the field.
Use hand graphics, notes, and mapping and sampling techniques to illustrate the character of individual plants and the composition and structure of plant communities in the field.
Apply sustainability principles and/or frameworks to address the challenges of creating sustainable cities and communities, and prevent the extinction of species.
Use sustainability principles for developing personal goals and professional values.
Source: UW Guide
Grade history
↗All recorded terms · compare terms & instructors
Prerequisites
Course mapLAND ARC 250, (BOTANY 100,BOTANY/BIOLOGY 130,ZOOLOGY/BIOLOGY/BOTANY 152, or BIOCORE 381 and 382), and sophomore standing, or graduate/professional standing
- LANDARC 250
- take one
- sophomore standing
- graduate/professional standing
“Used by” includes alternatives; linked courses may have other requirements. This is a best-effort interpretation; check the catalog requirements above.
Prerequisite text tree
- All of
- LANDARC 250
- Any of
- Any of
- sophomore standing
- graduate/professional standing
Professors
Spring 2027No instructors recorded for this selection.
Historical instructors & teaching patterns
Recorded history may be incomplete and does not establish a future schedule.
Calendar & sections
Spring 2027Schedule loads here as you scroll.
| Section | Mode | Enrolled / capacity | Waitlist |
|---|
Times are Central. Select a meeting for details; export includes recorded dates for the selected sections.
Meeting source records
Student experience
the class
Recent recorded grades — Fall 2023: 3.61 GPA, 81.8% A/AB (n=33 letter grades); Fall 2024: 3.71 GPA, 79.3% A/AB (n=29 letter grades); Fall 2025: 3.67 GPA, 75.0% A/AB (n=20 letter grades).
difficulty & workload
No workload feedback recorded.
Topics
- Characteristics of Wisconsin native plants and non-invasive horticultural species.
- Composition, structure, and functions of forest, wetland, and grassland communities.
- Cultural meaning of plants expressed through hand and digital graphics and writing.
Skills
- Matching plant species to site environmental conditions for ecosystem services.
- Applying sustainability principles to sustainable cities and species conservation.
- Using hand graphics, mapping, and sampling techniques in the field.
Grades
Latest available · Fall 2025— not enough history to project Spring 2027.
Grade distribution · % of letter grades
Grades over time
Through Fall 2025
More grade details Grade mix, volume & source data
Not enough comparable courses for Spring 2027 in UW–Madison.
Sources & history
Catalog & offerings
Descriptions, prerequisites, and recorded course offerings.
Catalog observation history
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Selected offering source records
No offering records for the selected term.
Raw records
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Student reviews
Original comments behind the course and instructor summaries.
Read original reviews
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Grade history
Recorded grade distributions by term, section, and instructor.
Explore recorded gradesRecorded 2026-10-14
Model outputs & technical records
LLM outputs across runs
Full model traces
Recorded model configuration, reasoning, and tool conversations.
Model & dataset provenance
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"task_version": "17",
"output_id": "1458865c9ca45c58c31c0fce77c9e7b02f4e931cbe0f628c13b61a4503f61623",
"requirements_status": "needs_review",
"dataset_revision": "fc1811fa52e581ea57a35c0cf3343f8740a8ffbf",
"observed_at": "2026-10-14 17:50:09.728220+00:00"
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