Requirements
1. Go to a completed landscape project that a landscape architect has designed.
Before you visit the site, obtain a plan of the design from the landscape architect
if one is available.
2. After completing requirement 1, discuss the following with your merit
badge counselor:
(a) Tell whether the design had separate spaces, a defined point of entry, a
clear path system, and sun and shade variety.
(b) Discuss how any structures, the designated seating, eating, or parking
areas suited the overall design.
(c) Explain how the design reflected consideration for the comfort, shelter,
and security of the users.
(d) Discuss how the choice of trees, shrubs, and ground covers used in the
project contributed to its appeal and function.
3. Identify five shrubs, five trees, and one ground cover, being sure that you
select examples of different shapes, sizes, and textures. With the help of your
counselor or a local nursery, choose plants that will grow in your area. Bring
pictures of the different planting materials or, if possible, examples of their
branches, leaves, or flowers to a group such as your troop or class at school.
Be prepared to tell how you might use each in the design of a landscape and
the maintenance that would follow.
4. After obtaining permission from the appropriate authority, look at and study a
place of worship, school grounds, or a public building and identify where
most people arrive by bus or car. Then do the following:
(a) Using a measuring tape, measure and draw the main site entry and its
nearby area. Define the scale of your drawing. Be sure to include the driveway
and sidewalk or path that leads to the building’s main entry. Indicate any sidewalks,
structures, trees and plants, lights, drains, utilities, or other site furnishings
within the study area. Make two copies of this plan and save the original,
then do 4b and 4c using the copies.
(b) On one copy of your site plan, use directional arrows to indicate where
the water drains across the site, where ditches occur, and where water stands
for a longer period of time.
(c) Decide how you can make the place safer and more comfortable for those
using it. Redesign the area on another copy of the plan. You may want to
include new walks, covered waiting areas, benches, space-defining plantings
of trees and shrubs, and drainage structures.
5. Find out about three career opportunities in landscape architecture. Pick
one and find out the education, training, and experience required for this
profession. Discuss this with your counselor, and explain why this profession
might interest you.
Resources:
Scouting.org Merit Badges - Requirements
boyscouttrail.com Merit Badges