Site analysis and design of the Ruby M. Mize Azalea Garden

In October 1997, Stephen F. Austin State University's Board of Regents approved the development of an eight-acre SFA Azalea Garden to be built in a floodplain site south of the William R. Johnson Coliseum along University Drive. This thesis documents the process by which the garden, now named the Ruby M. Mize Azalea Garden, was developed over the next three years. The two critical elements included site analysis, from initial survey to preliminary construction strategies that maintained public access and created positive drainage patterns, and design, which had as its goal development of a year-round display garden that contains large collections of azaleas, camellias, Japanese maples, and many other companion species in a highly visible site. The process is recorded in AutoCAD RTM2000 maps, two hand-rendered drawings, and ancillary photographs and narrative.