Landscape Architecture
Mississippi Landscapes features a wealth of design, planning, and management articles and resources to help you develop your landscape—whether it’s for a residential backyard or to grow a downtown community.
Publications
News
One man’s landscape architectural legacy at Mississippi State University has allowed generations of home and professional gardeners to learn from industry-leading professionals about how to beautify their own spaces. This year marked the 68th Edward C. Martin Landscape Symposium hosted by MSU Extension Service, the MSU Department of Landscape Architecture and Garden Clubs of Mississippi Inc. Started in 1957, the event is named for Martin, who helped establish the MSU Department of Landscape Architecture and served 45 years at MSU.
RAYMOND, Miss. -- The Piney Woods Heritage Festival will be held at the Mississippi State University Crosby Arboretum Nov. 4 to celebrate the region’s heritage. The 21st annual event offers various displays and demonstrations for the public. The event begins at 10 a.m. and ends at 2 p.m.
Landscape design and natural landscape enthusiasts will gather at Mississippi State University to perfect their craft and learn from other experts, an annual event happening this year on Oct. 18. The 68th Edward C. Martin Landscape Symposium will be held from 8:30 a.m. to noon at the Bost Auditorium at MSU.
PICAYUNE, Miss. -- School groups, nature enthusiasts and the public can enjoy two fun-filled days of exciting, hands-on learning about the environment, ecosystems, wildlife and insects at the Mississippi State University Crosby Arboretum in Picayune. BugFest offers insect-related displays, interactive exhibits, games and crafts. Biologists, naturalists, entomologists and other experts from Mississippi, Louisiana and Alabama will host booths and give presentations on butterflies, bats, caterpillars, beetles, crayfish, ladybugs, hissing cockroaches, dancing praying mantises, native and exotic arthropods and more.
Despite several recognized benefits of growing winter cover crops, this conservation system has limited acceptance, something Mississippi State University researchers are trying to change by identifying and better managing risks.
Among the significant benefits of planting a green crop on farmland otherwise exposed to winter elements are improved soil health, water quality and erosion control. But cover crops grow into the optimal spring planting times for summer crops. This complicates their use and can reduce productivity of the summer crop.
For the last several years, MSU research has addressed various aspects of this issue, primarily focusing on cover crop management and cover crop species.
Success Stories
Mississippi State University and partners have been awarded a grant of nearly $6.6 million from the National Fish and Wildlife Federation for shoreline restoration work on the Gulf Coast.
Sledge Taylor is no stranger to cover crops —he first planted vetch on 100 acres of his Panola County farmland in 1979—but he has ramped up his cover crop usage and added other sustainable agricultural practices over the past 15 years.
Brian Andrus irrigated exactly zero times on his Sunflower County farm in 2021. He didn’t even turn on his well.
Engineer designs sub-irrigated planter
The answer would have discouraged most people when Mike Boyles asked Mississippi State University Extension Service agent Jim McAdory about building a permanent, subirrigated planter on a concrete slab.
See What’s New in Extension: Extension Supports University's Community Garden, Extension Appoints New 4-H Staff, Extension Landscape Symposium Honors Professor Emeritus, and Extension's Southern Gardener Opens Little Free Garden
