So this weekend I actually devoted a huge chunk of time to working on my project like I planned. It was much easier to find applicable articles now that I have a better idea of what my project focus than when we initially had to make our annotated bibliographies. I spent several hours in the library looking up articles that explained research done on the benefits of landscape design and came across a very similar term in several articles called landscape ecology. Simply put, landscape ecology is the relationship between urban development and the environment. It seems like that term will be useful in better defining what the perception of landscaping is in Tonga. I think my project will largely deal with the functional use of yards, which includes urban development in a sense.
After looking on the internet for awhile I decided to search the shelves related to agriculture/landscape management in the SB shelves of the library. Many of the books didn't seem like they would apply, or the principles didn't leave much open to discovering new design perspectives in a different culture. But I finally found one that seemed random, but ended up being really helpful. Its called "African-American Gardens and Yards in the Rural South" by Richard Westmacott. It is a research project where Westmacott made observations, interviewed, took pictures, and drew site analyses of several dozen yards. Overall its a great book that I can draw some methods from and better understand how to go about understanding what the purpose of yards is in Tonga. Basically it was a good weekend of finding solid information.
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