Professor Emeritus James Hitchmough
B.Sc PhD
School of Architecture and Landscape
Emeritus Professor of Horticultural Ecology
+44 114 222 0610
Full contact details
School of Architecture and Landscape
Floor 13
Arts Tower
Western Bank
葫芦影业
S10 2TN
- Profile
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My main research interests have centred around the ecology, design and management of herbaceous vegetation. In Australia this lead to the development of a still active research group in the restoration ecology of Australian native grasslands. Maintaining my strong interest in 鈥渘ative鈥 semi-natural herbaceous vegetation, increasingly I have re-interpreted ecologically based herbaceous vegetation in the cultural context of the public greenspace of towns and cities.
This has resulted in a large volume of research on the creation of various native and non-native meadow, steppe and prairie vegetation from sowing seed in situ.
This vegetation is designed to be much more sustainable than the traditional herbaceous plantings, however the main goal of the work is to produce ecologically informed herbaceous plant communities that are highly attractive to the lay public.
1983-88: Lecturer in Amenity Horticulture at Victorian College of Agriculture and Horticulture, University of Melbourne, Australia
1989: Visiting Lecturer in Landscape Management, University of Manchester 1988-93 Senior Lecturer in Environmental Horticulture at Victorian College of Agriculture and Horticulture, Melbourne, Australia.
1993-95: Lecturer/Course Tutor in Environmental Horticulture at SAC Auchincruive, Ayr, Scotland
1995-2003: Reader in Landscape, Department of Landscape, University of 葫芦影业
2004: Professor of Horticultural Ecology, Department of Landscape, University of 葫芦影业
- Qualifications
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1975 - 79: University of Bath (School of Biological Sciences). B.Sc Honours Degree in Horticulture (Specialising in Amenity Horticulture), Second Class, First Division
1979 - 82: University of Bath (School of Biological Sciences) Postgraduate Research (Ph.D.) into: "Development of a Computerised Information System for Landscape Plant Selection". Awarded Ph.D in 1984.
- Research interests
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As mentioned above, since the mid 1980's my main research interests have centred around the ecology, design and management of herbaceous vegetation. The research employs standard restoration ecology methodologies and involves rigorous collection and statistical analysis data.
As my interest in these new vegetation types has developed so has my desire to find out more about the aesthetic values and preferences of the public as they relate to urban vegetation. This has resulted in the development of a complementary strand of research based on the application of Environmental Psychology methodologies to designed urban vegetation.
A current PhD study (Helen Hoyle) looks at how ordinary people value designed vegetation, across planting character and structural gradients from the highly natural to the highly cultural. My PhD student research group currently consists of 5 PhD students. I collaborate on research with many individuals and organisations across the world and in Britain I have particularly strong links with the RHS.
I am an active publisher in both the research and professional literature, and my work results in numerous invites to keynote across the world.
- Publications
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Books
- Environmental Horticulture: Science and Management of Green Landscapes. Croydon: Cabi.
- . Blackwell Science Ltd.
- . Taylor & Francis.
Journal articles
- . Urban Forestry & Urban Greening, 74, 127657-127657.
- . Frontiers in Sustainable Cities, 3, 654618.
- . Urban Forestry & Urban Greening, 54, 126786-126786.
- . Urban Forestry & Urban Greening, 48.
- . International Journal of Climate Change Strategies and Management, 11(2), 178-194.
- . People and Nature.
- . Journal of Arid Environments, 147, 40-53.
- . Urban Forestry & Urban Greening, 27, 117-126.
- . Landscape and Urban Planning, 164, 109-123.
- . Landscape and Urban Planning, 164, 49-63.
- Student Project: Assessing the effects of drought and temperature on the establishment of Juniperus seravschanica saplings in northern Oman. Sibbaldia: the Journal of Botanic Garden Horticulture, 14, 37-53.
- . Acta Horticulturae(1108), 159-164.
- . Ekologia Bratislava, 34(1), 39-52.
- . Journal of Landscape Architecture, 10(2), 82-91.
- . South African Journal of Botany, 88, 28-35.
- Park life. Planet Earth(SUMMER), 8-9.
- The effect of seed treatment and depth of sowing on seedling emergence in Primula species. Seed Science and Technology(3), 539-551.
- . Urban Ecosystems, 279-302.
- . Landscape and Urban Planning, 380-382.
- . Acta Horticulturae, 881, 193-200.
- New approaches to ecologically based, designed urbanplant communities in Britain: do these have any relevance in the USA?. Cities in the Environment(2).
- Diversification of grassland in urban greenspace with planted, nursery-grown forbs. Journal of Landscape Architecture, 16-27.
- . Urban Ecosystems, 11(1), 33-44.
- . LANDSCAPE URBAN PLAN, 79(3-4), 273-287.
- Germination and emergence of understorey and tall canopy forbs used in naturalistic sowing mixes. A comparison of performance in vitro v the field.. Seed Science and Technology(3), 624-637.
- Germination and emergence of understorey and tall canopy forbs used in naturalistic sowing mixes. A comparison of performance in vitro v the field. SEED SCI TECHNOL, 35(3), 624-637.
- . Landscape and Urban Planning, 78(4), 386-397.
- . Journal of Environmental Horticulture, 23(2), 101-108.
- What value exotic plant species?. Ecos, 26(3-4), 28-32.
- . Landscape and Urban Planning, 66(2), 75-90.
- Effects of sward height, gap size, and slug grazing on emergence and establishment of Trollius europaeus (Globeflower). RESTOR ECOL, 11(1), 20-28.
- Emergence, survival and initial growth of North American prairie forbs and British meadow forbs and grasses in low-productivity urban "waste" soils. J HORTIC SCI BIOTECH, 78(1), 89-99.
- Woodland spaces and edges: their impact on perception of safety and preference. LANDSCAPE URBAN PLAN, 60(3), 135-150.
- . Urban Ecosystems, 5(4), 285-308.
- Establishment of cultivated herbaceous perennials in purpose-sown native wildflower meadows in south-west Scotland. LANDSCAPE URBAN PLAN, 51(1), 37-51.
- . Landscape Research, 25(1), 29-47.
- Germination and dormancy in a wild collected genotype of Trollius europaeus. SEED SCI TECHNOL, 28(3), 549-558.
- The ecology of exotic herbaceous perennials grown in managed, native grassy vegetation in urban landscapes. LANDSCAPE URBAN PLAN, 45(2-3), 107-121.
- . Landscape Research, 22(3), 327-337.
- Effect of gap width and turf type on the establishment of the Australian forb Bulbine bulbosa. RESTOR ECOL, 4(1), 25-32.
- . Arboricultural Journal, 19(4), 357-370.
- . Applied Ecology and Environmental Research, 18(3), 3835-3860.
- . Landscape Research.
Chapters
- , The Dynamic Landscape: Design, Ecology and Management of Naturalistic Urban Planting (pp. 1-32).
- , The Dynamic Landscape: Design, Ecology and Management of Naturalistic Urban Planting (pp. 172-245).
- , Environmental horticulture: science and management of green landscapes (pp. 157-174). CABI
- , Environmental horticulture: science and management of green landscapes (pp. 1-8). CABI
- , Environmental horticulture: science and management of green landscapes (pp. 175-191). CABI
- , Gardens & Landscapes in Historic Building Conservation (pp. 219-226). John Wiley & Sons, Ltd
- , Plant User Handbook (pp. 7-24). Blackwell Science Ltd
- , Plant User Handbook (pp. 3-6). Blackwell Science Ltd
- , Plant User Handbook (pp. 95-112). Blackwell Science Ltd
- , Plant User Handbook (pp. 325-342). Blackwell Science Ltd
Conference proceedings papers
- . Acta Horticulturae(1189) (pp 113-118)
- Localism in planting design in a time of increasing global urbanism and climate change. 49th World Congress of the International Federation of Landscape Architects, IFLA 2012 (pp 556-570)
- . Procedia - Social and Behavioral Sciences, Vol. 49 (pp 215-226)
- THE PERCEPTION OF KUALA LUMPUR PUBLICS' ON TREE RETENTION AND URBAN DEVELOPMENT. 1NCEBS CONFERENCE PROCEEDINGS: 1ST NATIONAL CONFERENCE ON ENVIRONMENTAL-BEHAVIOUR STUDIES (pp 273-286)
- Living in the urban wildwoods: A case study of Birchwood, Warrington New Town, UK. WILD URBAN WOODLANDS: NEW PERSPECTIVES FOR URBAN FORESTRY (pp 95-116)
- . Acta Horticulturae(643) (pp 97-103)
Preprints
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- Environmental Horticulture: Science and Management of Green Landscapes. Croydon: Cabi.
- Teaching activities
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Module co-ordinator for:
- LSC 6008 Greenspace Maintenance
- LSC 231 Materials of Landscape - Planting Design
- LSC 333 Materials of Landscape - Detailed Design
- LSC 6005 Design and Management stream for Special Project.
- Professional activities and memberships
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- Member of Departmental Executive
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Departmental REF Co-oridinator for the December 2013 submission and all previous RAE Submission back to 1996
Extramural activities
These fall into two major groups; speaking at conferences and seminars, and secondly consultancy work with the landscape industry. With regard to the former I am regularly invited to speak, normally to deliver Keynote Presentations at various conferences and seminars around the world.
As an example of my level of activity, since January 2013 I have delivered keynote presentations at academic and professional conferences in; Stockholm, Prague, Torino, Esfahan (Iran), Newport (USA), New London (USA) Melbourne, Brisbane, Chendong (China), Hanover, and Copenhagen, in addition to events in the UK.
Consultancy work is largely associated with putting into practice the outcomes from my research on herbaceous vegetation in high profile, prestigious projects. With my colleague Professor Nigel Dunnett I was Lead Planting Design and Horticultural Consultant at the 2012 Olympic Park, and responsible for the design and implementation of over 10 ha of planting.
I currently have a number of significant projects in train, including a 10ha plus project 鈥淏ig Sky Meadow鈥 for the .
Professional affiliations
1995 - : Fellow of the
2013: Fellow of