Reality television shows have taken pop culture by a storm and it was only a matter of time before the landscaping business jumped (or more shoveled) it’s way into the world of reality television as well. Television channels, such as HGTV, have definitely assisted with glamorizing the landscaping industry however, now nationally aired reality show “Extreme Makeover: Home Edition” has taken the landscaping business and put an educational twist on it by ‘enlisting’ local college students, who are studying landscaping architecture in Lubbock, Texas, a ‘working chance’ to experience their 15 minutes of landscaping fame.
Landscaping architecture students currently in the undergraduate landscaping architecture program at Texas Tech volunteered their time, after receiving an invitation from the show producers, during the taping of ‘Extreme Makeover: Home Edition,’ a reality television show focused on building new homes for families in need , all within a 7 day time period. The landscaping architecture students were assigned the task of creating and designing a more family friendly backyard for the new home as well as the implementation of a drought tolerant front yard.
Learning quickly in the world of landscaping, the students encountered a vast array of challenges to include cold weather that delayed the pouring of the foundation for the home and delaying their back yard project and winds that continued to delay the construction crews with stabilizing frames for the home and causing delay in their front yard project.
Approximately 85 landscaping architecture students from the college under took this job and yet unlike jobs they’ll face in the future where ample time will be allotted, in adhering to the shows strict timeline, they had only 7 days to draft up, create, implement and finish the landscape design project. Rotating in shifts, all 85 landscaping architecture students worked diligently around the clock during the seven day project. All landscaping supplies were donated to the students. The episode is rumored to air sometime in the first few months of 2011.
