• Design a beautiful garden at home
• Create a better garden for your home
• Learn to produce a Landscaping Plan
• Avoid wasting thousands of dollars on the wrong plants and landscaping materials

This course is designed to teach you how to design (or renovate) a home garden; and then, to maintain it.

It aims above all to develop a solid understanding of the principles and procedures underlying the design and development of garden areas.  The course is relevant to both small and large landscapes, equally of value in developing a new home garden, or improving an existing one.  Though consideration is given to both design and construction, the emphasis in this subject is on landscape design.

Each one of the ten assignments will require written answers to set questions (sometimes drawings), plus a series of plant reviews. Learning about plants in the context of their landscape use is so very important to developing any garden. Choosing the wrong plants or using them in an inappropriate way can create structural and maintenance problems; not to mention detract from the overall aesthetic of the garden.

Six plants are to be illustrated and reviewed with each assignment.  Each plant should be labeled with both scientific and common names plus details of size and shape, conditions it will grow in, maintenance requirements, lifespan, appearance (and any way it’s appearance might change throughout the year) plus several recommendations as to suitable situations it could be used in by the landscaper.

There are 10 lessons in this course:

1. Designing Gardens – the basics of design concepts through to understanding how to use them.
2. Styles of Gardens – formal, informal, natural, and other themes.
3. Drawing Plans ‑Designing Gardens – learn how to draw basic landscape features and garden designs.
4. Understanding Soils – clays, loams, sands – how to identify them and treat them for better plant growth.
5. Basic Landscape Construction – what is involved to build basic structures like steps, walls, paths, etc.
6. Weeds & Pests – how to identify and treat garden weeds and pests.
7. Planting and Pruning – techniques to plant, prune and care for garden plants.
8. Lawns, paving and other surfacing – care for various surfaces
9. Garden Features – how to select and use garden features in a landscape.

• Developing “YOUR” Garden – Special Project

Each lesson culminates in an assignment which is submitted to the school, marked by the school’s tutors and returned to you with any relevant suggestions, comments, and if necessary, extra reading.

Aims

• Understand the design procedure and the principles of landscape design
• Develop knowledge of garden styles through history and apply this to your own designs
• Develop skills in graphical techniques for plan drawing
• Develop knowledge of soil properties and their relevance to home horticulture
• Understand the principles and practices of basic landscape construction
• Develop knowledge of pests and weeds, and their management in home horticulture
• Develop skills in planting and pruning for home gardens
• Develop knowledge of lawns and surfaces appropriate to home landscaping
• Develop knowledge of landscape furnishings and other features appropriate for home gardens
• Utilise skills developed during this course to develop a landscape design for a home garden