The AES department is providing a sustainable landscape workshop to show students the McDaniel House, once a residential home, now a fully operational plant and soil science laboratory.

The house is just one of the labs the Department of Agriculture and Environment Science has around campus. The lab is dedicated to finding alternative landscaping technique, different soils and permeable paving.

Along with finding new forms of landscaping techniques, the lab is in the process of finding different forms of grass.

“Grasses do not need that much care, even through drought seasons,” said Dr. Jim Cooke, professor of environmental science.

The workshop is designed to talk about topics that deal with sustainable landscaping. Some of the topics of choice are permeable walkways, composting, worm composting, xeric planting, green roof and “turfless” roof reliant landscaping.

One of the key speakers is Dr. Jim Carpenter, professor of environmental science. He will be presenting one of his Water Resources class projects on green roofs, or “living roofs.”

He said a green roof is a raised garden on a roof that can be used for anything that is worth planting. It is not only a good source of gardening, but it also provides an added layer of insulation for the roof of the building.

This is the first time that something like this is being done at ACU, but it has been going on all over the state. “It is a great opportunity for ACU,” said Cooke.

The free workshop will take place from 9 a.m. through noon Feb. 25.

“It is a great opportunity to learn ways to reduce the way we landscape in the environment” said Carpenter.