Садово-парковый и ландшафтный дизайн на английском языке = Horticulural and landscape design in english

V.N. NOVIKOVA

Учебное пособие

INTERMEDIATE

Москва
КУРС
ИНФРА-М
2024

Horticultural and Landscape design in
ENGLISH 

Садово-парковый и ландшафтный дизайн на английском языке

Рекомендовано в качестве
учебного пособия для студентов высших учебных заведений, 
обучающихся по направлению подготовки
4.35.03.10 «Ландшафтная архитектура» (квалификация «бакалавр»)

УДК 811.111:715(075.8)
ББК 81.2Англ-9
 
Н73

Новикова В.Н.
Horticultural and Landscape design in english. Intermediate: учебное пособие / В.Н. Новикова. — 
Москва: КУРС : ИНФРА-М, 2024. — 112 с.

ISBN 978-5-906818-89-8 (КУРС)
ISBN 978-5-16-012298-4 (ИНФРА-М, print)
ISBN 978-5-16-105196-2 (ИНФРА-М, online)

Учебно-методическое пособие составлено в соответствии с требованиями Федерального государственного 
образовательного стандарта высшего образования по направлению подготовки 4.35.03.10 «Ландшафтная 
архитектура» и учебной программы дисциплины «Иностранный язык». Пособие предназначено для 
студентов 1–2 курсов инженерных направлений подготовки, изучающих английский язык. 
Цель данной работы — подготовить бакалавров к практическому использованию иностранного (английского) 
языка в профессиональной деятельности для осуществления межкультурной устной и письменной 
коммуникации. 
Каждая глава пособия содержит упражнения и тексты научно-познавательного характера различной 
степени сложности, что позволит преподавателю работать со студентами разного уровня владения 
языком.
УДК 811.111:715(075.8)
ББК 81.2Англ-9

Р е ц е н з е н т ы:
Т.В . Пьянкова — кандидат филологических наук, доцент кафедры иностранного языка ГБОУ ВПО 
«Северный государственный медицинский университет» г. Архангельск;
Т.В. Молодцова — кандидат педагогических наук, доцент Государственного автономного образовательного 
учреждения «Архангельский областной институт открытого образования»

Н73

©  Новикова В.Н., 2017
© КУРС, 2017

ISBN 978-5-906818-89-8 (КУРС)
ISBN 978-5-16-012298-4 (ИНФРА-М, print)
ISBN 978-5-16-105196-2 (ИНФРА-М, online)

ФЗ 
№ 436-ФЗ
Издание не подлежит маркировке 
в соответствии с п. 1 ч. 2 ст. 1

HORTICULTURAL & LANDSCAPING DESIGN IN ENGLISH FOR UNIVERSITY STUDENTS is 
intended for intermediate level of students who have chosen landscape architecture as their future career. 
Our primary aim is to help students to acquire the basics of English knowledge in the history of gardening 
and landscape design as well as fi nd bearings in these occupations. Students’ knowledge skills are extended 
through phonetic practice and vocabulary exercises. Th ey are motivated with enjoyable contemporary topics 
and plenty of activities. We wish the students would become adjusted to making use of this knowledge at the 
lessons and in their everyday life. 
WE WOULD ALSO LIKE TO THANK Prof. CYNTHIA WOOLF-BOSWELL (Bristol Community Col-
lege, Massachusetts USA) FOR PRACTICAL COMMENTS AND SUGGESTIONS.  
Th e book consists of 4 parts: 1) History of Landscape Design; 2) Defi ning Landscape Design and Foun-
dations that Shape the Design Process; 3) Revision exercises; 4) Supplementary reading texts.  
Part I and II contain 19 units structured identically. Each unit consists Warm-up Activities, Vocabulary, 
Text Comprehension and Speaking sections and includes exercises with the following assignment defi nitions: 
 
✓ Discuss the following with your partner (warm-up section); 
 
✓ Vocabulary of the lesson; 
 
✓ Read the words from the text and make sure that you know their meanings; 
 
✓ Read the text and answer the questions (multiple choice);
 
✓ Choose the word or phrase in the bold text that the word(s) refer to (multiple choice);
 
✓ Decide whether these statement(s) are true or false; 
 
✓ Discuss these questions with your partner (speaking section). 
Some exercises for revision is provided in Part III.  
Part IV is supposed for unaided reading and summarizing the articles. Glossary (made in alphabetical or-
der) is supplied as separate appendices for the purpose of most adaptable usage by both students and teachers. 
We strongly hope English for Landscape Design will help you making teaching a challenge and learning 
a joy! 

Acknowledgements

1. Objectives: Upon completion of this unit you 
should be able to : 
 
✓ amplify the ideas about early landscapes and 
their connection to nature mysteries 
 
✓ explain why the notion of the garden as a plea-
sure ground had evolved

2. Get ready!
Before you read the text, discuss the following 
with your partner: 
 
✓ What was the garden in the past ?
 
✓ What factors infl uenced landscape design at 
that time? 

3. Vocabulary 

ancestor
предок
antiquity 
классическая древность, старина 
elaborate
разрабатывать в деталях
earthworks земляное укрепление 
mound 
курган, насыпь 
rite
обряд, церемония, ритуал 
recess 
помещать в укромном месте
solstice
астрол. солнцестояние 

sanctuary 
святилище, святыня
urban
городской

4. Read the words from the text and make sure 
that you know their meanings

alignment
[ә’lainmәnt]
axial 
[‘æksial]
advent
[‘ædvәnt]
domain
[dә’mein]
chamber
[‘tʃeimbә]
curbstone
[‘kɜbstәʊn]
mystery
[‘mistәri]
paradise
[‘pærәdais]
width
[‘widθ]
simultaneously
[sim(ә)l’teiniәsli] 

5. Read the text (p. 5) and choose the alterna-
tive.

5.1. Ancient people try to understand …. 
(A) mound
(B) deities 
(C) nature secrets
(D) antiquity 

UNIT 1
PREHISTORY
TO 6TH

CENTURY  

PART 1
History of Landscape Design

Unit 1. Prehistory to 6th Century 

5.2. Th e tomb over 250 feet wide that contained 
three recessed chambers was discovered at …
(A) Ireland
(B) Iceland
(C) Greece
(D) Scotland

5.3. Caves in Ancient Greece were important 
sites of … 
(A) natural world 
(B) gardening practice
(C) sacred places
(D) rites and rituals 

5.4. Pantheon was … and is still the best pre-
served building from ancient Rome
(A) the site of a Mycenaean village 
(B) completed in c. 125 A.D. in the reign of Hadrian 
(C) piece of Egyptian landscape 
(D) example of “paradise garden”

6. Now answer the following questions:

6.1. What defi nition is considered to be fair of the 
gardens on the walls of wealthy Egyptian offi  cials?
(A) early examples of the four-square pattern lat-
er associated with “paradise garden”
(B) an important primary source of information 
about Egyptian landscape
(C) associated with rare kind of Egyptian trees 
(D) a way of communication

6.2. What was the cave of Persephone the site of?
(A) the annual celebration of the worship of 
Apollo 
(B) the annual celebration of the rebirth of spring
(C) the place of communication with sacred spirits
(D) the place of climatic comfort 

6.3. What idea of the garden evolved from the 
simple enclosed hunting grounds of Europe and Asia?
(A) that garden should become a pleasure ground 
(B) that garden should be cultivated for hunting 
(C) that garden should have some space for phys-
ical comfort
(D) that garden should have geometric division 
of space defi ned by water 

6.4. What was Gala considered to be? 
(A) the Earth Goddess
(B) the Love Goddess
(C) the Spring Goddess 
(D) the Fire Goddess

7. Reading 

7.1. Look at the words highlighted in para-
graph 1. Find the best synonym for the word sacred.
(A) intrusive
(B) intolerant
(C) holy
(D) restored 

7.2. Look at the words highlighted in para-
graph 1. Find the best synonym for the word foster. 
(A) bring up
(B) dogmatize
(C) familiarize
(D) fi ll up

7.3.  Look at the words highlighted in paragraph 2. 
Find the best synonym for the word recessed. 
(A) broken apart
(B) secluded 
(C) split up
(D) put forward 

7.4.  Look at the words highlighted in para-
graph 6. Find the best synonym for the word con-
crete (dome).
(A) black sticky substance which is obtained 
from tar or petrol 
(B) bitty 
(C) mixture of cement, gravel, sand and water 
which becomes hard when dry
(D) sulfate turpentine

7.5. Look at the words highlighted in para-
graph 7. Find the best synonym for the word deity 
(pl. deities).
(A) mystery
(B) partner
(C) sovereign ruler
(D) God or Goddess 

TEXT: PREHISTORY OF LANDSCAPE DESIGN 

1. Early cultures attempted to recreate or express 
in their built landscapes the sacred meanings and 
spiritual signifi cance of natural sites and phenom-
ena. People altered the landscape to try to under-
stand and/or honour the mysteries of nature. Early 
“landscape design” elaborated on humankind’s in-
tuitive impulse to dig and to mound. Our ancestors 
constructed earthworks, raised stones and marked 
the ground, leaving traces of basic shapes and axi-
al alignments. Th e purpose or function of many of 
these spaces is still conjecture.

Part 1. History of Landscape Design

Cultural values shift ed in later antiquity with 
the advent of philosophical systems based on a hu-
man being’s capacity for deductive reasoning. People 
looked for rational explanations for nature’s mys-
teries. Th e ancient Greeks respected nature as the 
sanctuary of the Gods, but equally valued the human 
domain. Th eir focus on the role of the individual in 
relationship to the larger community fostered demo-
cratic ideals that were revealed in architecture in ur-
ban form and in the consideration of the landscape 
as a place of civic responsibility. 
2. c. 3500 B.C. New Grange, Ireland
Th e circular passage tomb at New Grange is over 
250 feet wide and contains three recessed chambers. 
On the winter solstice, the sun rises through a clere-
story above the entryway, illuminating the central 
chamber. A curbstone carved with triple-spiral mo-
tifs marks the entryway.
3. 1380 B.C. Tomb of Nebamun, Th ebes
Th e gardens depicted on the walls of wealthy 
Egyptian offi  cials are an important primary source of 
information about the ancient Egyptian landscape.
4. 600 B.C. Cave at Eleusis, Greece
Caves were also important sites of ancient rites 
and rituals. Th e cave of Persephone at Eleusis was the 
site of the annual celebration of the rebirth of spring, 
reenacted as the mystery of Persephone’s return from 
the underworld.
c. 600 B.C. Delphi, Greece
Delphi was the site of a Mycenaean village and an 
oracular shrine of Gala, the Earth Goddess. By the 
7th century B.C. the site had been rededicated to the 
worship of Apollo by the Greeks.
5. 546 B.C. Pasargadae, Persia
Th e imperial capital of Cyrus the Great was de-
scribed by ancient Greeks and Romans as having a 
geometric division of space defi ned by water and 
trees, an early example of the four-square pattern lat-
er associated with “paradise” gardens. Existing ruins 
show the close relationship of buildings and gardens 
and the decorative use of water. Gardens provided 
visual and climatic comfort, not space for active use.
6. 120 A.D. Pantheon, Rome
Marcus Agrippa constructed a small temple on 
this site in 27 B.C.. Th e current structure dates from 
the reign of Hadrian and until the 15th century was 
the largest concrete dome ever built. Th e height of 
the dome equals its width; its proportion and con-
struction methods were studied by Renaissance ar-

chitects, particularly Brunilleschi, who designed an 
even larger dome for the cathedral in Florence. An 
opening in the centre of the dome, the oculus, cre-
ates dramatic lighting and atmospheric eff ects.
7. Around 8,000 years ago, complex social sys-
tems began to emerge simultaneously in South and 
Central America, in Egypt and the Middle East and 
in India and in Asia. Early civilizations established 
similar ways of communicating with sacred spirits 
inherent in nature. As cultures advanced and hu-
mans gained more control over the natural world, 
we organized the landscape for physical and spiritual 
comfort. Th e idea of the garden as a managed plea-
sure ground evolved from the simple enclosed hunt-
ing grounds of Europe and Asia. In ancient Greece 
and Rome, a new trust in human logic resulted in 
the substitution of anthropomorphic deities for na-
ture spirits. Sacred structures soon replaced sacred 
landscapes.

Comprehension 

8. Decide whether these statements are true 
(T ) or false (F ). 
First read the statements and then fi nd the an-
swers in the text.
8.1. Th e existing ruins of Pantheon show the 
close relationship of buildings and gardens and the 
decorative use of water. 
T  / F  
8.2. Th e ancient Greeks respected nature as the 
sanctuary of the Gods and did not care for humans. 
T  / F  
8.3. Early “landscape design” elaborated on hu-
mankind’s intuitive impulse to dig and to mound. 
T  / F  

9. Complete the sentences with one of the given 
words: 

align-
ment
deity
earth-
works
concrete paradise

ances-
tors
foster
elabo-
rate
sacred
urban

9.1. … is the Garden of Eden, the home of Adam 
and Eve. 

9.2. Th e desks in this classroom are out of … . 

9.3. My … came from Ireland. 

Unit 1. Prehistory to 6th Century 

9.4. In Ancient Greece it was believed that the 
construction of public order was a direct merit of 
Zeus. It was he who had given the laws of men and 
the power of kings. It was believed that the main … 
watched that consistently adhered to all the customs 
and traditions of the people and saved the house and 
the family.

9.5. A long time ago large structures of earth 
were built especially for defence, which were called 
…. .

9.6. His task was to … policies which would 
make a market economy compatible with a clean en-
vironment. 

9.7. Earlier this year, Nigeria’s GDP estimates 
were improved and revised upward, revealing that it 
is Africa’s biggest economy and the 23rd largest in the 
world  at $522 billion in 2013. At the same time, Ni-
geria is confronting growing problems of pollution, 
traffi  c congestion, and poverty in its … communities 
in Lagos. And Nigeria is not alone in these issues. 

9.8. Th ey had lain on sleeping bags on the … fl oor. 

9.9. In India cow is considered to be a … animal. 

9.10. My …- brother was adopted in the state or-
phanage and now is being brought up by my parents 
as if he were their own child. 

Speaking 
 
✓  Why did cultural values shift  in later antiq-
uity? 
 
✓  How did democratic ideals in Ancient Greece 
refer to landscape?
 
✓  Why do you think the gardens depicted on 
the walls of wealthy Egyptian offi  cials can be 
an important primary source of information 
about the ancient Egyptian landscape? 
 
✓  Why is the Pantheon in Rome world-wide fa-
mous? 

Use the following phrases:
Going back to the ancient Egyptian civilization, 
one cannot help mentioning …
If I am not mistaken, landscape design in antiq-
uity was based on …
Caves, tombs … … give evidence of …

1. Objectives: Upon completion of this unit you 
should be able to : 
 
✓ defi ne peculiarities of landscape design in the 
Middle ages period 
 
✓ explain the functions of gardens under the 
given period

2. Get ready!
 
✓ Before you read the text, discuss the following 
with your partner: 
 
✓ Is landscape architecture a popular fi eld in 
your country? Why?
 
✓ What skills do you think a job of a landscape 
designer require?
 
✓ Do you know any styles of landscape architec-
ture?

3. Vocabulary 

enclosed garden
огороженный сад
fl ourish
процветать, пышно расти
meadow
луг
hardship
трудности
gardening practices практика садоводства
glorious
славный, великолепный
assume a powerful 
role
взять на себя весомую роль 

manuscript
манускрипт
tapestry
гобелен
utilitarian
практический, утилитарный 

4. Read the words from the text and make sure 
that you know their meanings:

ascend
[ә’send]
dynasty, dynastic 
[‘dinәsti]; амер. [dai’næstik]
circumference
[sә’kʌmf(ә)rәns]
aesthetic 
[i:s’θetik]
plague
[‘pleig]
geometry
[dʒi’ɒmitri]
artifi ce
[‘a:tifi s]
estate
[is’teit]
zeal 
[‘zi:l]
Renaissance 
[re’neis(ә)ns]

5. Read the text (p. 9) and choose the alterna-
tive. 

5.1. Th e period in the history of Europe between 
the end of the Roman Empire and the Renaissance
(A) 3 to 12
(B) 6 to 10 
(C) 6 to 15
(D) 7 to 17 

5.2. Th e text contends that in the given period 
…. fl ourished. 
(A) plague
(B) political liberties
(C) monastic way of life 
(D) monarchy

5.3. Th e primary reason why people wanted to 
stay behind the monastery walls was … 
(A) they tried to fi nd shelter 
(B) they tried to eat to their heart’s content 
(C) they tried to pray with monks
(D) they tried to set out fl owers

UNIT 2 
MIDDLE 
AGES IN 
WESTERN 
EUROPE 

Unit 2 . Middle Ages In Western Europe 

5.4. Monks got knowledge how to cultivate plants 
from … 
(A) manuscripts 
(B) travellers
(C) villagers nearby
(D) brethren 

6. Now answer the following questions:
6.1. What was the purpose of “scratching the earth”?
(A) commercial
(B) charitable 
(C) restorative 
(D) utilitarian

6.2. Why did people grow vegetables and herbs?
(A) for feeding domestic animals 
(B) for dressing up houses 
(C) for curing and having food 
(D) for exploiting deposits 

6.3. What other gardens (besides enclosed gar-
dens) became widely practiced?
(A) pleasure gardens (сад в поместье)
(B) informal gardens (сад без искусственных 
насаждений)
(C) topiary gardens (сад в классическом стиле)
(D) park gardens 

6.4. How the form and concept of the walled gar-
dens of Medieval Europe could be described?  
(A) complicated
(B) geometric
(C) simple 
(D) lavish

7. Reading

7.1. Look at the words highlighted in para-
graph 2. Find the best synonym for the word secular. 
(A) hidden; put in a secret place
(B) worldly; not religious or spiritual 
(C) wandering; inclined to live a roving life with-
out settling anywhere
(D) valuable; very precious 

7.2. Look at the words highlighted in para-
graph 3. Find the best synonym for the word prose. 
(A) describing everyday life 
(B) referring to literature 
(C) belongings 
(D) dull person 

7.3.  Look at the words highlighted in para-
graph 4. Find the best synonym for the word guild. 
(A) the smallest political district, governed by a 
mayor and council 
(B) close and intimate relations between two 
people 
(C) the form of government in which a number 
of states join together 
(D) association of persons with common inter-
ests and common purpose

7.4. Look at the words highlighted in para-
graph 3. Find the best synonym for the word pro-
fane. 
(A) dishonoured 
(B) deepened
(C) decreased
(D) disbalanced

7.5. Look at the words highlighted in para-
graph 4. Find the best synonym for the word sear.
(A) thrive
(B) wither
(C) examine
(D) argue

TEXT: MIDDLE AGES IN WESTERN EUROPE

1. Th e term “Middle ages” applies to a period from 
the 6th to the 15th centuries, when cultural advance-
ment in western Europe was disrupted by a decline 
of Roman imperialism to when the power structures 
of antiquity were replaced by the humanist ideologies 
of the Renaissance. But while progress in western Eu-
rope paused, other cultures continued to thrive. We 
use a similar time frame of roughly 900 years to ex-
amine not only the landscape traditions of medieval 
Europe, but also the great gardens of China, Japan and 
Islamic Spain. During these nine centuries, enclosed 
gardens shut out the uncertain dangers of the sur-
rounding landscape. Medieval gardens can be under-
stood as metaphorical constructions, representative of 
a culture’s changing perceptions of nature. 
2. Walled Minds, Walled Gardens. From the fall of 
the Roman Empire to the rebirth of humanist ideals 
in the Renaissance, the focus of western European 
culture turned inward. Lacking a central authority to 
maintain the political, social, economic and physical 
infrastructure, the landscape was ruined. Rival mili-
tias battled to established control over the land. Th e 

Part 1. History of Landscape Design

plague ravaged the cities and towns. People sought 
protection within walled castles and spiritual fulfi ll-
ment within walled monasteries. Oppressed by the 
hardship of a feudal economy, individuals focused on 
the glorious promises of the next world rather than 
on the harsh limitations of the Catholic Church. In 
spite this, the Church was able to assume a powerful 
role in the Middle Ages by establishing ecclesiastical 
seats in formerly imperial towns. Monasticism fl our-
ished as spiritual and mystical communities formed 
apart from the secular world. In an environment be-
sieged by violence, disease and repression, ancient 
knowledge was preserved in monasteries, where 
monks copied both historical manuscripts and the 
contemporary texts brought by travellers from the 
east who took shelter within their retreats. 
3. Agriculture was the primary activity of life in 
the early Middle Ages. Th e many prose and garden-
ing practices written by medieval scholars attested to 
the importance of a healthy, productive landscape. 
4. Th e function of the early medieval garden in Eu-
rope was primarily utilitarian. People grew vegetables 
and herbs for food and medicine. In the late Middle 
Ages, a money economy developed and cities emerged 
as trading centers. As infl uential middle class began to 
evolve from the powerful guilds and burgeoning mer-
chants class. As trade resumed and the landscape grew 
less frightening, people with means built pleasure gar-
dens. Th e garden became laden with allegorical sym-
bolism both sacred and profane and was the locus for 
literary tales of chivalry and courtly life.
5. Sources of information about early medieval 
gardens in Western Europe is limited. Th ey include the 
many paintings, tapestries, illuminated manuscripts 
and literary descriptions of gardens that date from the 
13–15 centuries. Medieval gardens typically includ-
ed a wall of fence, the geometric subdivision of raised 
planting beds, turf sears, a well of fountain and grass 
or “fl owery mead” (fl owery meadow). However, the 
walled garden of the Middles Ages was simple in con-
cept and form, existed as a place cultivated and tend-
ed a locus amoenus, or pleasant place, separated from 
the dark wild. Th e hortus conclusus, or enclosed garden, 
the pleasance or pleasure garden, and monastic cloister 
garden all are characteristic forms of medieval gardens. 
Th e hortus conclusus became symbolic of the Vir-
gin Mary following the religious zeal of the Crusades. 
Verses taken from the Song of Solomon describe el-
ements typical of a hortus conclusus: the “fountain in 
my gardens”: a spring of running. 

Comprehension 

8. Decide whether these statements are true 
(T ) or false (F ). First read the statements and 
then fi nd the answers in the text.

8.1. Sources of information about early medieval 
gardens in Western Europe are plentiful. 
T  / F  
8.2. Th e many prose and gardening practices 
written by medieval scholars attested to the impor-
tance of a healthy, productive landscape. 
T  / F  
8.3. Th ere grew pleasure gardens within monas-
tery walls. 
T  / F  

9. Complete the sentences with one of the given 
words: 

hard-
ship 
fl ourish
enclosed 
gardens
utilitar-
ian
glorious

assume 
a pow-
erful 
role

gar-
dening 
practice

To man-
uscript

change 
the 
percep-
tion of 
nature

tapestry

9.1. Th e writer was astonished at seeing a large 
piece of heavy cloth with a picture sewn on it using 
coloured threads. He could not believe his eyes that 
one woman had done such a … . 

9.2. Th e Bolshoi Th eatre in Moscow is so beauti-
ful and impressive, in other words it is ... .

9.3. Every Russian family tries to have a summer 
cottage, which is in Russian called “datcha”, where 
grandparents tend to do some … … . 

9.4. ….gardens typically included a wall of fence, 
turf sears, fl owery meadow. 

9.5. … is a situation in which your life is diffi  cult 
or unpleasant, oft en because you do not have enough 
money. 

9.6. I am grateful to him for letting me read his 
early chapters in a … .

9.7. Th e man is very infl uential among these peo-
ple. He seems to … a… … of their leader. 

9.8. Over the nine centuries, medieval garden 
shut out the dangers if the surrounding landscape