Design your own garden intensive
Time: 10:30 - 16:30
Location: Keeley Street
- Course Code: VF506
- Dates: 29/07/24 - 02/08/24
- Time: 10:30 - 16:30
- Taught: Mon+Wed+Fri, Daytime
- Duration: 3 sessions
- Location: Keeley Street
- Tutor: Alison Worster
Course Code: VF506
Duration: 3 sessions
Please note: We offer a wide variety of financial support to make courses affordable. Just visit our online Help Centre for more information on a range of topics including fees, online learning and FAQs.
What is the course about?
This course will cover the basic principles of garden design, demonstrating the main stages of the process and how to create a considered garden layout. Learn imaginative and practical solutions to improve your garden such as creating privacy and selecting suitable plants and hard landscaping materials. Discover how to get the most from your garden and translate your ideas onto paper to produce simple scaled plans.
What will we cover?
- The principles and styles of successful garden design
- How to survey, measure and analyse your garden to draw function and scale plans
- How to research for inspiration and create a mood board for your style
- Recognise and select suitable hard landscaping materials for your site
- How to use and combine plants and draw simple planting plans
- Creative solutions to garden challenges; privacy, noise, shade etc.
What will I achieve?
By the end of this course you should be able to...
- Recognise the garden design principles and use them in your layout
- Draw your garden plan to scale 1:50 with site analysis annotations
- Create a mood board as your style guide for hard landscaping and planting
- Create a suitable plant list for your garden and draw a basic planting elevation and plan
- Apply design techniques to improve difficult areas in your garden.
What level is the course and do I need any particular skills?
This course is suitable for beginners and is for anyone interested in designing their own garden or as an introduction to further garden design study.
You should be able to follow simple written and verbal instructions, demonstrations, hand-outs and health and safety information, and will be invited to take part in group discussion. You should be able to use numbers and be able to do simple measurements and calculations.
How will I be taught, and will there be any work outside the class?
This will involve practical workshops, tutor presentation, informal class discussion and handouts. Student preparation and homework outside class times is strongly encouraged.
We use Google Classroom E-learning platform which will store all tasks, notes and resources. You will be sent an email with the necessary information and will need to login into your Google classroom before each sessions starts.
Are there any other costs? Is there anything I need to bring?
Equipment and materials will be provided for use in the class. For working at home you may wish to buy yourself several sheets of graph paper, A4, a pad of tracing paper or greaseproof paper, masking tape, a notebook, pencil, eraser and a long tape measure. You will be provided with printable graph paper and scale rule as part of the handouts.
We use Google Classroom E-learning platform which will store all tasks/notes/resources/ demo videos You will need to login into our Google classroom before each sessions starts.
When I've finished, what course can I do next?
City Lit offer a range of Garden Design courses and your tutor will be happy to advise you about courses to suit your individual progression. We also run courses in sketch up pro, vector works, perspective drawing, scale drawing as well as traditional drawing and watercolour to help you develop and present your ideas to clients.
Alison Worster has a BA Hons degree in graphic arts and Diploma in Garden Design. Alison’s first career was in commercial design and illustration, with many diverse clients ranging from Natural History Museum, National Trust to Paperchase, John Lewis, and exhibitions of her own artworks. After managing a design studio Alison’s love of drawing nature and plants, and the importance of her own garden, led her to retrain in garden design, allowing her to combine her experience of colour, texture and layout with living plants and outside spaces. Within months of graduating Alison gained a gold medal for the Ideal Home Show ‘Reclaiming London’ garden and won an RHS competition to exhibit at the Chelsea Flower Show ‘Fresh Talent’. Alison now runs her own garden design business, and specialises in making the most of typical, small London spaces. Alison teaches both drawing and garden design and her main aim is to enthuse, demystify and inspire her students in either of her subjects.
Please note: We reserve the right to change our tutors from those advertised. This happens rarely, but if it does, we are unable to refund fees due to this. Our tutors may have different teaching styles; however we guarantee a consistent quality of teaching in all our courses.
