Develop Your Garden Design Talent
How Can a Landscape Professional Make Their Mark?
Every customer wants a garden that stands out from the crowd and will wow their friends.
Every customer has slightly distinct preferences in terms of their likes and dislikes!
No matter how popular a style may be, landscape designers and contractors who consistently create beautiful gardens will be in competition with one another to “stand out” from the competition and persuade clients that they can provide that “little bit extra.”
You could be able to provide them with something that other landscapers can’t by being knowledgeable about a garden style that other landscapers are not as familiar with!
With the help of this training, some landscape designers can “specialise” in the creation of cottage gardens. Others might continue to work on a range of gardens, but what they learn here might just help them see things from a new angle that applies to a lot more than just cottage style gardens.
“Anyone interested in cottage gardens, as well as landscape architects and designers looking to expand their skill set, should take this course. From the historical perspective to plant choices and designs, all facets of cottage gardening are covered. Students can put their newfound knowledge to use by creating their own cottage garden.
Lesson Structure
There are 8 lessons in this course:
- Introduction to Cottage Gardens
- What is a Cottage Garden
- Components
- Guidelines for Using Cottage Plants
- Plant Naming
- Principles of Landscape Design
- Preplanning Information
- History of Cottage Gardens
- 19th century Cottage Gardens
- History of Cottage Gardening
- Case Study
- Design Techniques and Drawing Plans
- Garden Rooms
- Positioning Garden Features
- Framing Views
- Drawing the Plan
- Design Procedure
- Plants for Cottage Gardens
- Mixing Plants
- Designing a Garden Bed
- Perennial Plants
- Designing a Perennial Display or Border
- Bulbs
- Scented Geraniums
- Lavender
- Other Cottage Garden Plants
- Planting Design in Cottage Gardens
- Using Colour in the Garden
- Shade Trees
- Repellent Herb Plants
- Companion Planting
- Planting Design
- Hard Landscape Features and Components
- Walls and Fencing
- Pickets
- Woven Wire Fencing
- Stick Fencing
- Stone Walls
- Garden Art: sculpture, pottery, architecture, wall plaques, sundials, weather vanes, feature tiles, etc.
- Furnishing; outdoor furniture
- Paths, Gravel, Coloured Gravels, bark, brick, cobbles, etc
- Guidelines for Path Design
- Seating
- Arches
- Barriers and Walls
- Cottage Gardens Today
- Where are Cottage Gardens Appropriate
- Making a Courtyard More Exciting
- Planning For Perfection
- Old (disappearing) Garden Skills
- Special Assignment
- Coherence and Contrast
- Evaluating Cottage Garden Designs
- Design of A Complete Garden.
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
- Describe what a cottage garden is.
- Construct cottage garden concept plans.
- Make plans for cottage garden plantings.
- Arrange to include the right non-living landscape elements in your cottage garden.
- Create a comprehensive plan for a cottage garden.
How You Plan to Act
- Some of the activities you will be doing include the following:
- Describe the idea of a cottage garden in both historical and contemporary settings.
- Describe the impact of one well-known landscape architect on cottage gardens.
- Describe how ideas like unity, balance, proportion, harmony, contrast, rhythm, line, form, mass, space, texture, colour, and tone are relevant to cottage gardens.
- Examine the designs of the three cottage gardens you visited.
- Provide an outline of the procedures necessary in developing a cottage garden, along with a series of images.
- Create a list of the prerequisite planning details needed for a proposed cottage garden on a particular location.
- Get pre-planning data for a particular location, for a prospective cottage garden, by speaking with a potential client and examining the area.
- Create drawings to represent various landscape elements, such as trees, shrubs, herbs, walls, rocks, buildings, and other features, on a cottage garden plan.
- Examine three different cottage gardens and analyse their designs.
- To meet the supplied design requirements and pre-planning information, create three distinct concept layouts for cottage gardens for the same location.
- Create a collection of fifty plants for a cottage garden, including: *A photo, a drawing, or a pressed specimen of each plant; *Plant names (both scientific and common); *Cultural information; and *Uses/applications in garden design.
- Create a planting plan with the following elements for a 20–30 square metre cottage garden bed: *A sketch plan *A plant list.
- Create a 30-meter-long perennial border in a fitting cottage garden design.
- Create a garden bed that contains companion planting ideas that is 50 to 100 square metres in size.
- Analyze the companion planting strategy in a cottage garden that you have recently visited.
- Create a garden with a colour theme, such as a white garden, in an area of 200 square metres or fewer to go with a planned garden renovation at a location you have visited.
- Provide a brief description of the various non-living elements that can be found in a cottage garden, such as: *Seating options *Bird baths *Sun dials *Fountains *Statues
- *Pergolas *Gazebos *Fencing *Ponds *Weather vanes.
- Establish guidelines for the addition of various landscape elements, such as: *Gazebos *Ornaments *Arbors *Tub plants *Water features *Paths.
- Examine the qualities of various landscape materials, such as their suitability for cottage gardens, costs, availability, longevity, appearance, and maintenance.
- Describe how topiary and hedging are used as plant sculptures in cottage garden designs, being sure to mention the following: *How to make it *How to use it *Maintenance.
- Analyze the use of various structures as features in the designs of two distinct cottage gardens that you visited and include images in your report.
- Provide three concept plans for cottage gardens, one for each of the designated sites, with a variety of features that are sensitive to traditional or heritage gardens.
- Create a brief for a cottage garden design for the renovation of a mature garden surrounding a historic structure in your neighbourhood.
- Examine the layouts of two distinct, well-known cottage gardens that you have visited.
- assemble background data for a certain cottage garden development.
- Create thorough plans for a cottage garden in accordance with industry standards, which should include::
- *Detailed plans *Materials lists *Costings.
- Explain the reasoning behind a cottage garden designed by you.
Increase Your Garden Design Knowledge
The cottage garden style has evolved over the last few decades. Compared to the gardens of the past, which were functional spaces designed to fit a diverse range of plants, including vegetables and herbs into as little space as possible, today’s cottage garden is more about visual appeal with more thought given to complementary colour, texture, form, and overall design.
Where Would Cottage Gardens Fit Best?
Older properties are being purchased and renovated by younger generations in cities all around the world. These inner-city homes are often compact and have an architectural design that complements cottage gardens. Cottage type gardens are frequently found on homes with little more room than a few courtyards anywhere from London to Melbourne. When it comes to such properties, the difficulty is frequently “how to make the most of restricted space” while yet achieving the desired aesthetic.
Possibilities Following Study
This course can be taken as a stand-alone unit or in conjunction with other modules to earn a higher level qualification.
People who are interested in working in:
- Garden design
- Landscaping
- Urban Planning
- Architecture
- Construction industries
- Garden maintenance
- Parks & gardens
- Horticulture
- Education
- Research
