Managing Notable Gardens 100 Hours Certificate Course

There are 9 lessons:

1. Role and Formulation of Conservation Management Plans

• Introduction: types of notable landscapes
• The role of conservation management plans
• Why research is important
• National registers
• Other sources of information
• Gathering and organising the documentary information
• The site survey
• Reporting the research
• Formulating conservation management plans
• Writing the plan

2. Consult Public and Interested Parties, Statutory and Non-Statutory Consultees.

• The consultation process
• Stakeholders
• Community participation strategy
• Collecting and analyzing data
• Primary data research
• Secondary data research
• Steps for collection and analysis of data
• Planning a formal survey
• Designing a questionnaire
• Common problems
• PBL project to formulate criteria required for the successful consultation with all relevant stakeholders, in the implementation of a maintenance program for a notable garden.

3. Role of Public and other Sources of Funding

• Funding restoration and conservation
• Examples of funding objectives
• Large funding bodies
• Other funding bodies
• Grant aid criteria
• Funding applications
• Other sources of funds
• Other cost considerations for sites open to the public
• Plant sales, garden shop, tea rooms, etc

4. Planning for Renewal of Plant Features

• Plant surveys
• Current plantings
• Other considerations
• Using experts
• Trees
• When not to retain a tree
• Sourcing plant material
• Collecting seed
• Selecting a parent plant
• Timing
• Method of seed collecting
• Removing seeds
• Replanting strategies

5. Developing New Features within Existing Landscapes

• Type of actions: preservation, rehabilitation, restoration, reconstruction
• Principles to follow
• Car parks
• Surfacing
• Pebble and cobble paving
• Fencing
• Dry stone walls
• Steps
• Ramps
• Railings
• Retaining walls
• Brick
• Drainage
• Timber
• Stone
• Rockeries

6. Programming Repair of New and Existing Hard Landscape Features.

• Introduction
• Action plans: preparing maintenance management schedules
• Managing and storing records
• Hard copy information
• Classifying information
• Active and inactive records
• Data protection
• Fundamental maintenance tasks: drainage, paving
• Maintaining stone and brick walls
• Maintaining ponds
• PBL Project to formulate a Maintenance Schedule for the repair of new and existing hard landscape features.

7. Creating New Gardens and Landscapes.

• Principles of landscape design
• Design elements
• Gathering site information
• The base plan
• Basic surveying
• Design drawing
• Completed designs and plans
• Park design

8. Identifying Required Staff Skills

• Staff management, training and associated issues
• Skill set required for workers in historic parks and gardens
• The skills crisis
• Training schemes
• Volunteer labour
• Skills audits and training plans
• Identifying skills chortages
• Conducting a skills audit
• Training programs
• Workplace health and safety
• Identifying hazards
• Risk control methods
• Conducting a safety audit
• Assessing risks

9. Adapt Historic Gardens and Designed Landscapes for Modern Use

• Presenting historic gardens and designed landscapes
• Visitor interpretation
• Marketing and PR
• Visitor facilities
• Equal access
• Access strategy
• Managing wear and tear, vanalism, theft
• Managing legislative requirements (eg. health and safety, equal access).
• PBL project to adapt a historic garden or designed landscape for modern use.

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.

• Examine how conservation management plans for designed landscapes are formulated and how the information gathered is evaluated and verified
• Examine and explain the role of public and interested parties, statutory and non-statutory consultees.
• Examine the role of public funding; evaluate other sources of funding; discuss the implications of grant aid criteria
• Explain issues and procedures associated with the renewal of plant features.
• Develop and outline strategies for creating new features within existing landscapes.
• Describe the processes involved in creating new gardens or landscapes.
• Manage wear and tear on historic gardens and designed landscapes
• Determine appropriate work programs for repair and maintenance of hard landscape features.
• Identify and outline staffing management and training issues, determine labour skill sets requirements.

The quality of this course is second to none, from the in-depth learning you will get to the expert individual mentoring you will receive throughout your studies. The mentors for this course are:

Susan Stephenson

BSc in Applied Plant Biology (Botany) Univ. London 1983.

City and guilds: Garden Centre Management, Management and Interior Decor (1984)

Management qualifications in training with retail store. Diploma in Hort level 2 (RHS General) Distinction.

Susan Stephenson is a passionate and experienced horticulturist and garden designer. She has authored three books, lectures at 2 Further and Higher Education Colleges, teaching people of all ages and backgrounds about the wonders of plants and garden design, and tutors many students by correspondence from all over the world.

Susan studied botany at Royal Holloway College (Univ of London) and worked in the trading industry before returning to her first love plants and garden design. She is therefore, well placed to combine business knowledge with horticulture and design skills. Her experience is wide and varied and she has designed gardens for families and individuals. Susan is a mentor for garden designers who are just starting out, offering her support and advice and she also writes, delivers and assesses courses for colleges, introducing and encouraging people into horticulture and garden design.

In 2010, Susan authored a complete module for a Foundation degree (FDSC) in Arboriculture.

Susan holds the RHS General with Distinction. She continues to actively learn about horticulture and plants and (as her students will tell you) remains passionate and interested in design and horticulture.

Steven Whitaker

Diploma in Garden Design (Distinction) – The Blackford Centre, Gold Certificate of Achievement in Horticulture, Level 2 NVQ in Amenity Horticulture, Level 1 NOCN Introduction to Gardening, – Joseph Priestly College, BTEC Diploma in Hotel, Catering and Institutional Operations (Merit), Trainer Skills 1, & 2, Group trainer, Interview and Selection Skills – Kirby College of Further Education

Steven has a wealth of Horticultural knowledge, having ran his own Design and Build service, Landscaping company, and been a Head Gardener. His awards include five Gold awards at Leeds in Bloom, two Gold awards at Yorkshire in Bloom and The Yorkshire Rose Award for Permanent Landscaping. Steven has worked with TV’s Phil Spencer as his garden advisor on the Channel 4 TV Programme, “Secret Agent”.

He is qualified to Level 2 NVQ in Amenity Horticulture and has a Diploma in Garden Design which he passed with Distinction. Steven’s Tutor and Mentor was the Chelsea Flower Show Gold Award-winning Garden Designer, Tracy Foster. He also works for a major Horticultural Commercial Grower in the field of Propagation and Craft Gardening. Steven lives in Leeds where he is a Freelance Garden Designer and Garden Advice Consultant.