Natural Garden Design 100 Hours Certificate Course

There are 8 lessons:

1 Introduction to Natural Gardens

• What is a Natural Garden?
• What is a Natural Wild or Bush Garden?
• Soils
• Improving Soils
• Improving Drainage
• Improving Infiltration of Water into Soil
• Mulches
• Soil Mixes
• Resources

2 History of Natural Gardens

• Introduction
• The History of Gardening
• Landscape Designers, Garden Designers and Landscape Architects
• Natural Gardening Approaches
• Organic Gardening

3 Developing Concept Plans

• Principles of Landscape Design
• Basic Principles
• Quality of the Components
• Creating Effects
• Pre-planning Information (included diagrams and plans)
• Design Procedure

4 Plants for Natural Gardens

• Basic Planning Procedure
• Pruning
• How to Build Raised Beds
• Mulching
• Plant Nutrition
• Propagation of Native Plants
• Four Main Seed Sources
• Understanding Cuttings
• Some Native and Natural Garden Plants for Temperate Climate Wild Gardens
• Some Native and Natural Garden Plants for Australian Native Gardens
• Maintenance

5 Planting Design in Natural Gardens

• Natural Garden Planting Design
• Successions
• Native Planting Design
• Aesthetic Criteria for Planting Design
• Procedures for Planting Design
• Plant Applications
• Natural Weed Control
• Invasive Plant/Plants which Take Over
• Plant Health
• Control of Problems
• Types of Natural Gardens

6 Natural Garden Features

• Pathways
• Drainage
• Steps
• Erosion
• Walls
• Rockeries

7 Natural Gardens Today

• Wildlife
• Considering Shaded Areas

8 Bringing It All Together

• Tips for Planning a Natural Garden
• Creating a Table of Advantages and Disadvantages
• Garden Size and Location
• Putting it all Together
• Using Plants
• Using Trees
• Foundation of the Garden
• Planning for Difference