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Weston Resident Named Chairman
of Landscape Design
By Frances Wheeler
 Marion
Ryan is pictured at the Landscape Design School in Waltham,
MA, November 2005. Photo (c) Hilda M. Morrill
National Garden Clubs, Inc. (NGC), the largest volunteer gardening
organization in the world, has named Weston resident Marion E. Ryan chairman of
Landscape Design, the committee that oversees the NGC's educational program in
landscape design, with courses in all 50 states and Latin America.
Mrs. Ryan's credentials include a long history of service to regional, state,
and national organizations. She is past president of the Garden Club
Federation of Massachusetts, past chairman of the Landscape Design Council of
Massachusetts, past chairman of the Landscape Design Study Program in Massachusetts,
and past president of the Community League Garden Club of Weston. She is
currently serving as assistant treasurer of the Landscape Design Council of
Massachusetts.
The NGC's Landscape Design Study Program is carried out under the guidance of
state and international-affiliate garden clubs. The purpose of the program is
to develop in students an appreciation of both the natural and built
environment. The curriculum is offered via a series of four two- to three-day courses,
each concluding with an exam, and it covers a wide range of subjects from
landscape-design history to landscape architecture in the year 2000 and beyond.
Since the program's founding in 1958, professional instructors have
maintained the high standards originally incorporated into the study program, and many
optional programs--such as conferences, symposia, and tours--have been added.
Students acquire the tools for making their own landscapes more beautiful,
functional, and easier to maintain. In addition, the program motivates students
to serve in political decision-making areas, where their awareness of the
impact of a well-designed landscape can help them improve the lives of the general
public.
In Massachusetts, Landscape Design Study Program courses are generally held
in Waltham and are open to all who are interested. Said Mrs. Ryan, "The
elements and principles of design are the same for all art forms. Thus, the
information learned in these courses has many applications and makes everyone more
aware and analytical of their surroundings."
Members of NGC-affiliated garden clubs who pass all four exams may receive
national accreditation as Landscape Design Council consultants; provisional
membership is available to those who have completed at least two of the four
courses. Auditors are welcomed.
For more information about Massachusetts's upcoming Landscape Design Study
Program, which is scheduled to take place October 19-21, 2006, contact LDC
program chairman Terese D'Urso at 781-383-1143 or tdurso98@aol.com.
National Garden Clubs, Inc. (NGC), founded in 1929, is the largest volunteer
gardening organization in the world, with 264,440 members in 50 states and the
District of Columbia. Headquartered next to the Missouri Botanical Garden in
St. Louis, MO, NGC coordinates the interests and activities of the state
garden clubs, together with similar organizations in the United States and abroad,
encompassing 8488 garden clubs in all.
NGC is a not-for-profit educational organization that awards annual college
scholarships; sponsors courses in environmental education, flower arranging,
and gardening study, in addition to landscape design; and promotes good
horticultural practices. NGC aids in the protection and conservation of natural
resources, promotes civic beautification, and encourages the improvement of
roadsides and parks. NGC supports community-service projects, sponsors outreach
programs for youth and international affiliates, and encourages civic development
and historic preservation. In addition, NGC sponsors the annual National Garden
Week (beginning the first Sunday in June). More information is available at
www.gardenclub.org.
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