Natural Garden Design

STUDY NATURAL GARDEN DESIGN ONLINE

 

• Learn to develop woodland gardens, bush gardens, and other natural gardens
• Develop a better understanding of how to create a low maintenance garden
• 100 hour self paced course

 

Student Comment

"This is the first correspondence course I have done and I have thoroughly enjoyed it and I just wanted to say a big THANK YOU. I appreciate everyone's effort in such a professionally-run organisation with seamless administration. The office staff's happy can-do attitude, their fast responses to all queries, tutor Shane Gould's quick turnaround in assignment marking and his supportive and motivational feedback and last but not least, the sound subject guides. Most importantly I hope my thanks and appreciation can be communicated to all the staff who have supported me long the way of my learning! I work full time and study on the weekend but really don't stop thinking about what gardening solution I need in order to answer my assignments every day of the week. Thank you for such a great learning experience and I cant wait to start the second half of my course!!"
- Skye

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Lesson Structure

There are 8 lessons in this course:

1. Introduction to Natural Gardens.
2. History of Natural Gardens
3. Developing Concept Plans
4. Plants for Natural Gardens
5. Planting Design in Natural Gardens
6. Natural Garden Features
7. Natural Gardens Today
8. Bringing It All Together.

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

• Explain the concept of natural gardens.
• Prepare concept plans for different natural gardens.
• Plan the incorporation of appropriate plants into a natural garden design.
• Plan the appropriate incorporation of non-living landscape features in a natural garden.
• Produce detailed plans for a natural garden.

What You Will Do

• Explain the historical development of natural garden design, in your locality.
• Analyse plant inter-relationships within a specific natural environment (e.g. an area of bushland).
• Analyse the design of three natural gardens, in an essay illustrated with photographs or sketches.
• Explain, using illustrations, concepts of landscape design, showing their relevance to natural garden design, including: *Unity *Balance *Proportion *Harmony *Contrast *Rhythm *Line *Form *Mass *Space *Texture *Colour *Tone.
• Develop three alternative natural garden concept plans for the same specified site.
• Collect pre-planning information for a site for a proposed natural garden, by conducting a site survey, and interviewing a prospective client.
• Explain, through a sequence of illustrations, a logical process of developing a design for a natural garden, on a specific site surveyed by you.
• Prepare concept plans for two small natural gardens, including: *A rainforest garden *A sclerophyll garden.
• List fifty different plants suitable for use in a natural garden design, of a specific style on a specified site, in your locality.
• Explain compatibility considerations, when selecting different plants to include in the same natural garden design.
• Develop a nursery customer information sheet, to provide guidelines for planting design of a natural garden.
• Prepare a plant collection of fifty relevant plants, which includes: *A photo, drawing or pressed specimen of each plant *Plant names (scientific and common) *Cultural details *Uses/applications in garden design.
• Prepare planting designs for three different styles of low maintenance garden beds, between 30 and 60 square meters each in size, and using only Australian Native plants.
• Explain design options for six different landscape features in a natural garden, including: *Rockeries *Patios *Water features *Paths.
• Describe the characteristics, including: *Cost *Availability *Longevity *Appearance *Maintenance, of ten different landscape materials, suited for use in a natural garden design.
• Design a water feature for a natural garden, incorporating: *Concept drawings *Materials list *Cost estimates *Guidelines for construction.
• Explain, using illustrations, the structural design of a masonry garden wall.
• Explain, using illustrations, different appropriate applications for timber structures in a natural garden design.
• Prepare plans, including structural diagrams and materials lists, for the construction of three different landscape features, which are appropriate for inclusion in a natural garden.
• Develop a design "Brief" for a natural garden, in consultation with a client, through an interview and site inspection.
• Design a natural garden of 200 to 500 square metres, including: *A landscape plan drawn on tracing paper *Materials specifications, including types and quantities, to suit a site surveyed by you, and emphasising one type of plant, such as ferns, wildflowers or sclerophyll type plants.
• Prepare a detailed professional standard plan for a natural garden of 500 to 2000 square metres, to an acceptable industry standard for a professional garden designer, which includes: *A landscape plan drawn on tracing paper *Materials specifications, including types and quantities.
• Explain the purpose behind decisions made by you in a natural garden designed by you.

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Some of our Horticulture Tutors

Maggi Brown Cert.Ed.(Environment)
Maggi is regarded as an expert in Organic Growing throughout the UK, having worked for two decades as Education Officer at the world renowned Henry Doubleday Research Association (now Garden Organic). She has exhibited at Chelsea Flower show and been active in education, environmental management and horticulture across the UK for more them three decades.

Yvonne Sharpe RHS Cert.Hort, Dip.Hort, M.Hort, Cert.Ed., Dip.Mgt.
Over 30 years of experience in horticulture, education and management, Yvonne hastravelled widely within and beyond Europe, and has worked in many areas of horticulture from garden centres to horticultural therapy. She has served on industry committees and been actively involved with amateur garden clubs for decades. Yvonne is also a member of the National Society of Allotment and Leisure Gardeners (NSALG).

John L. Mason Dip.Hort.Sc., Sup'n Cert., FIOH, FPLA, FAIH, MACHPER, MASA
Mr Mason has had over 40 years experience in the fields of Horticulture, Business, Education and Journalism. He has extensive experience both as a public servant, and as a small business owner. He has held positions ranging from Nurseryman and Landscape Designer to Director of Parks and Recreation (City of Essendon) and magazine editor.
John is a well respected member of many professional associations, and author of over forty books and of over two thousand magazine articles. Even today, John has written a number of best selling reference texts used by horticultural courses at universities and colleges internationally. His publishers include Simon and Shuster, and Landlinks Press (CSIRO Publishing

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Gavin Cole B.Sc., Psych.Cert., Cert.Garden Design, MACA
Gavin has over 20 years of industry experience in  Landscaping, Publishing, Business and Psychology. He was operations manager for a highly reputable British Landscape firm (The Chelsea Gardener) before starting up his own firm. He has exhibited at Chelsea Flower Show, and designed gardens across England and Australia.  He spent the best part of three years working in our Gold Coast office, partly as a writer for Your Backyard (gardening magazine), and partly as a tutor in both psychology and horticulture.

Martin Powdrill, Bsc (Hons) Applied Science (Resources Option), MSc Computer Studies, Permaculture Design Certificate. Martin’s goal as a catalyst for sustainable change brings together his strengths and experience in his environmental, project management, and business backgrounds. For 25 years, Martin has been involved in Telecommunications, IT, Organisational Development, and Energy Conservation & Efficiency, prior to setting up his own Permaculture consulting business. He wishes to make a real difference to people and the planet, by actively bringing new perspectives to current challenges and exciting opportunities. To realise this, he enables diverse groups of people to flourish and release their untapped potential, by re-igniting their passion and creativity. Additionally, Martin volunteers with many local environmental and community groups, and facilitates discussions on climate change, peak oil, and transition towns. Martin has an allotment, and is currently enrolled in the Scottish Mountain Bike Leader Award programme.

Rosemary Davies Dip Hort Sc.    Rosemary trained in Horticultural Applied Science at Burnley, a campus of Melbourne University. Initially she worked with Department of Agriculture Victoria as an extension officer (Garden Advisory Service), taught horticulture students, worked on radio with ABC radio (clocking up over 24 years as a presenter of garden talkback programs, initially the only woman presenter on gardening in Victoria) and she simultaneously developed a career as a writer. She is author of several booka and hundreds of articles.

Diana Cole B.A. (Hons), Higher Dip. (Garden Design), RHS Advanced Cert. Horticulture, Cert Admin.Mgt., Dip. Inst. Personnel Management In addition to her RHS horticulture, garden design, City & Guild construction, NPTC pesticide/legislation and business/management qualifications, Diana has a variety of skills drawn from setting up Arbella Gardens, a landscape gardening business. She also has administrative, management and training delivery experience drawn from her employment in other organisations such as the NHS and other educational institutions such as schools & universities. She has augmented her training expertise having gained the Preparing to Teach in the Life Long Learning Sector qualification. She also has experience gained through working as a volunteer in a number of different roles including amenity style gardening in parks and practical conservation work. Diana is also a member of the National Society of Allotment and Leisure Gardeners Limited (NSALG).

Sample Course Notes

Our courses are all written by highly qualified tutors and writers, who also teach on the courses, so know them well. We strive to update our courses and improve them with new information, methods and knowledge on an ongoing basis. If you would like to see examples of some of our courses, then choose the “Enrolment” option above, and then click on “Sample Course Notes”.

What learning method should I choose?
We offer three learning methods – e-learning, correspondence and online. If you are not sure which is the right choose for you, then click on the “Learning” box above, then “Learning Methods.”

How Long will it take to complete the course?
This obviously varies from student to student. Some students will have more time for study than others. Some students may work quicker than others, so it is an individual thing. We estimate that most students will take, for example, 4 – 6 months to complete a 100 hour individual module, but we allow up to 12 months for you to complete it.
Longer courses will obviously take longer. You can find more information on the length of time required and so on the “Enrolment” box, then selecting “Terms and Conditions of Enrolment.”

What Do Our Students think of us?
If you would like to read comments from our previous students, then choose the “About Us” option above, then “Student Testimonials”.

I don’t think this is the right course for me.
If you’re not sure about this course, then why not look at our wide range of other courses. Click on the “Courses” box above.
You may also wish to design your own course to fit in with exactly what YOU want. To do so, click on the “Enrolment” box, then “Design your Own Course”.
If you would like more advice on a course, then you can contact us and ask a tutor about the courses. You can contact us by calling 0800 328 4723 or +44(0) 384 442752 or emailing info@acsedu.co.uk

Recognition and Accreditation
For more information on our recognition and accreditation, click on “The School”, then “Recognition”.

Who is ACS Distance Education?
If you want to know more about ACS and our history, then please click on “The School”, then “About us.”