A Wise Break

When Mrs.Gergely told us in class this week that we would not be required to blog over break, I was super excited.  Over break I didn't even unzip my book bag.  Surprisingly though, I did a lot of WISE work without even realizing it.  Let me tell you about it:
The first few days of the break were spend celebrating my birthday, and visiting colleges.  PS: I have decided on a college.  Thanks for the 41,000 dollars IC- you win :)

By Thursday, I got down to business with my WISE work.
Thursday morning I got up early and went on another (more intimate) tour of Tetra Tech.  Trish, one of the managers there, gave me a lot of information about the company.  First, the unique thing about Tetra Tech is that is houses all of the necessary specialists in order to completely carry out an architecture project.  They have electricians, plumbers, architects, civil engineers, landscape architects, construction workers, and more.  This way, the work can be done more efficiently all inside one firm.
The most interesting part of the tour, for me, was when I brought up the topic of landscape architects vs. landscaper designers.  Now, there is no official difference.  But most cases these two titles mean different things.  Architects have more experience with the civil engineering portion of the project.  They usually  work more with the sewage lines, and water pipes, etc.  They really don't work with plant species.  A landscape designer knows more about plant names, and the characteristics of each plant.
I heard a few of the employees at Cayuga Landscape joke around once, saying how they can never trust a Landscape Architect because they don't take into consideration the type of plant and its needs.

The next thing I did marked a SIGNIFICANT part of my WISE journey.  I meet with Leigh at CCE.  She is the main manager of the Ithaca Children's Garden.  She has a project for me!!!!!! This is so great, because I always have felt funny telling people about my WISE project.  I would say...oh, I'm learning about Landscape Design.  But now I can say, well I have been doing a lot of research on Landscaping and I'm designing a garden for the Ithaca Children's Garden.  It sounds much more put together.  More like a project.  I'm super excited.

This project will be a huge task though.  It is a lot more difficult than just designing a regular old garden.  It is a themed garden.  And the theme has already been chosen by the Ithaca Children's Garden.  I will be  re-designing their Music Garden.  The Music Garden was put in two years ago by some Cornell Students, I believe.  It has not been maintained since, and now it really needs a lot of attention.  I have to continue with the musical theme while re-designing.  And the list of restrictions is quite long.
These are the things I am required to do with the garden:
-All the plants have to have musical names, or make music, or can be harvested to make an instrument
-Because it is a children's garden, the plants must not be prickly or poisonous
-The plants must be deer proof
-The plants must be tolerant of our zone (more info to come on this subject later)
-The garden will be in the direct sunlight, and therefore I need to pick plants that can handle this weather
-Leigh also wants me to design it in a way that is inviting for the kids to explore and get right in with the flowers
So, now, I have to go over to the garden and take a survey of the land.  Then, I will do research on what items I can include in the garden.  Next, I will make a design sketch and present it in front of a committee.   If they like it, I will  be able to go ahead and get started on the planting!  I will most likely make a big deal and advertise the planting day and make a community build day out of the project.

Now, this is a huuuuuge task.  It will take a lot of work and preparation.  But honestly, I am very excited to get started and see what I can create.