While many programs use the Evansdale Greenhouse for instructional purposes, its primary use is for students in the Horticulture program.
Horticulture is the science of the production, processing and marketing of fruit, vegetable, greenhouse and landscape crops. Students in the Horticulture Program in the Davis College study the physiology, culture, harvest, quality control, sales and utilization of horticultural crops. The nature of horticulture has changed as areas become more urban, and the program focuses on landscape management and production of nursery and greenhouse plants, which help meet the aesthetic needs in growing urban environments.
The Bachelor of Science in Agriculture degree in Horticulture is one of the 6 undergraduate fields of study offered within the Division of Plant and Soil Sciences. Horticulture prepares students for careers such as orchard, vegetable farm, or greenhouse managers, landscape contractors, golf course and park horticulturists, seed and supply company representatives, state and federal nursery inspectors, and educators in schools and extension. Students choose an area of emphasis in landscape management or in production depending on their career goals.
Minors can be combined with major fields to broaden or further focus the student’s academic studies. Students from majors other than horticulture who are interested in learning more about the the area of ornamental horticulture as it relates to current urban environments can chose a minor in Horticulture.
Horticulture graduate students in the Division of Plant and Soil Sciences can choose from a thesis or a nonthesis option for a master’s degree. The M.S. program in Horticulture allows students to explore horticultural issues and problems in detail through advanced course work and research. The M.S. in horticulture builds and adds on to a foundation of course work in botany, genetics, plant pathology, entomology, plant physiology, and a variety of horticulture courses to create a knowledge base the student can use to study, mold, manage, and/or manipulate plants in intensively managed agricultural systems.
Doctoral level graduate students can pursue a Ph.D. in Agricultural Sciences with an emphasis in Horticulture.