Venue
Study from the comfort of your own home.
Times
Start when you wish, and work at your own pace. A guideline is issued to each student for assignments/exercises but there are no stringent deadlines.
Dates
Study At Your Own Pace
Duration
Study At Your Own Pace
Details
This course was introduced in 2008 to cater for gardening enthusiasts who live in outlying areas or in another country where access to adult education centres is limited. It is also ideal for busy people who simply don’t have the time to attend a course on a weekly basis. Having said that, it is not a pre-requisite that the student lives miles away. We now have local students (5 km from the studio) who have chosen to study via correspondence as well as students in Dubai, Iraq, Germany, Namibia, Botswana, Swaziland and, most recently, South Korea.
(Personal note – I am not sure who is enjoying the course more, my students or me! I am so enjoying getting acquainted with gardens around the world and the beautiful images with which students are choosing to illustrate their various assignments.)
Who Benefits
The Homeowner;
Anyone in the gardening, landscaping or nursery industry who would like to improve his/her design skills.
Of real benefit to the student is that every aspect of the planning stage needs to be documented, for our mutual benefit. This ensures that there are no errors or omissions in the planning stage, which bodes well for an accurate, workable end-result.
Students around the world can learn how to effectively plan and design a garden for their specific region and climate, including effective plant research and use of plant material. Design transcends the hemispheres and the tutors are schooled in plants that suit both.
Outcome
Investing in your future -
This course, with its additional components on Sustainability and Biodiversity, is one of the finest investments you will make. The knowledge you will gain can be put to good use in any situation and in any hemisphere. Expensive mistakes in the garden can be avoided by gaining a sound working knowledge of gardening and the principles of design; For those already involved in landscaping, this is the opportunity to gain new insight into your craft, glean inspiration and fine-tune your drawing and presentation skills.
Content
This is not a 'beginner' course but rather an Intermediate course. However, novice, semi-experienced and experienced gardeners will all gain what they want from this course as they work at their own pace and under our guidance.
This course covers the identical design curriculum as our in-house course. The material covers the design process in detail, from the basics of establishing your personal needs in terms of outdoor space through to drawing a practical garden design plan. The course also includes an exciting and extensive section on plant research to name just one of the many additional skills you will learn.
When you have completed this design course, the next obvious step would be to enrol in ourEasy Steps to Maintaining your Garden correspondence coursewhich documents all the wonderous aspects of caring for the soil, encouraging good healthy plants by under-standing fertilisers and their use, protecting the biodiversity (or building it up, where necessary) of the site and encouraging wildlife into the garden, pruning techniques and lawncare.
Students are encouraged to work at their own pace and according to their time constraints. You are welcome to communicate with the principal or a tutor assigned to you, as often as you like. Once we have established your entry level, we will extend you or allow you to dictate the pace of your studies.
While all notes are in English, Lindsay is fully bilingual and encourages Afrikaans students to work in their home language.
Options
Option A is designed specifically to assist serious homeowners and aspiring landscapers to get ahead in the industry as well as to give new inspiration to existing landscapers who are fresh out of ideas (it happens to all of us!!)
Option B, on the other hand, has a price structure that will appeal to RETIRED folk who are enthusiastic gardeners that now have the time to pursue their gardening passion and have some fun. The course content is identical.
If you have either time or financial constraints, why not consider our Optional Correspondence Courses?
Do I Need Previous Experience?
Not at all. Work at a comfortable pace and ensure that you are in regular communication with your tutor, should you need assistance.
Course Enquiries
You can submit your form in two ways:
1) Download the form, complete it upload it to an online hosting service such as Google Docs, then submit the document sharing URL along with your details to the form on this page.
2) Download the application form, complete it and email it to info@schoolofgardendesign.com
We will be in contact with you shortly after the forms are submitted, but should you not hear from us within 48 hours please send a follow up email to the address above.
On application, you will be requested to pay a 20% non-refundable deposit.