Introduction

Congratulations on your acceptance to Temple University! My name is Lauren O’Neill, and I’m the Director of Admissions at the Tyler School of Art and Architecture. At this stage, you most likely have done some research of your own, but today I’d like to tell you a little bit more about our location and LA Hort programs as we like to call them.

Location

The greater Philadelphia area is known for its public horticulture institutions and incredible gardens. Students have access to world-renowned firms and organizations, as well as robust faculty, alumni and professional networks, which all position our students for internships and employment opportunities. Our Ambler Campus provides an ideal setting for your studies. The campus is home to a 187-acre arboretum, which includes a variety of gardens, collections and the Greenhouse Education and Research Complex. Both our Main and Ambler campuses offer specialized labs, studios and technology resources.

Landscape Architecture

In our LAAB accredited Bachelor of Science in Landscape Architecture program, students integrate art and science through design studios and hands-on, field-based learning. This program gives a unique opportunity to experience the diversity of the urban Main Campus for your first two years and continue in the beautiful settings of the Ambler Campus for your third and fourth year. As a junior, you have the opportunity to work on an exhibit for the Philadelphia Flower Show - a huge project that regularly wins awards. And of course our program is accredited, which is very important for studying landscape architecture.

Horticulture Slide

Moving along to our Horticulture program, we offer both an Associate’s and Bachelor’s curriculum that are designed to have a broad range of courses and include core sciences about propagation and production, plant identification, and more. The field of horticulture is very broad with hundreds of specializations and sub-disciplines that allow for you to find your perfect niche. A highlight of our horticulture program is of course the Ambler Arboretum, a living laboratory that you’re using as your classroom. Our program curriculum has an ecological focus. You’ll have some course overlap with our landscape architecture students so you’re learning some of the design aspects of that field, which is really different for a horticulture program. There are excellent research opportunities and diverse course offerings. In addition to our Associate’s and Bachelor’s degree options, we also have many certificates that pair well with the horticulture discipline such as sustainable food systems and horticultural therapy.

Collaboration Opportunities

Another unique differentiator of our program is that they’re housed within an art and design school, which creates some really unique opportunities for collaboration, such as our natural dye garden, which was created by horticulture and fibers students for the plants to be used in a natural dyeing class. So, as a Tyler student, you have the chance to collaborate with students from across the school and university studying art, architecture, community development as well as many other fields.

Get Involved

We encourage you to get involved outside of the classroom too! You could join Temple’s Community Garden, or the National Horticulture Honor Society or the American Society of Landscape Architects.

I hope you learned something new about Tyler and our LA-Hort programs! I know that choosing a college is a huge decision, so if you still have questions, please feel free to reach out to us. We’re happy to answer your questions or point you to a professor that could talk to you more specifically about the curriculum. Congratulations again!