Residential Garden Planning And Care 100 Hours Certificate

There are 10 lessons:

1. Principles of Garden Design
   • Introduction
   • Landscape Principles (Unity, Balance, Proportion, Harmony, Contrast, Rythm)
   • Design Elements (Line, Form, Mass, Space, Texture, Colour, Tone)
   • Landscape Effects
   • Colour in Garden Design
   • Formal Gardens
   • Informal Gardens
   • Cottage Gardens
   • Minimalist Gardens
   • Natural Landscapes
   • Oriental Gardens
   • Mediterranean Gardens
   • Tropical Gardens
   • Plant Identification, Culture and Use -Reviewing a range of plants
2. Conducting Garden Surveys and Planning
   • Appraising a Site and Collecting Data for Planning
   • Components of the Pre Planning Phase
   • Use of Hard Garden Features and Hard Surfaces
   • Scale for Landscape Plans
   • Triangulation
   • Surveying Slope
   • Direct Contouring
   • The Grid System
   • Levelling Terminology and Procedure
   • The site Plan
   • Concept Plan
   • Final Plan
   • Other Plans
   • Design Procedure
   • Landscape Graphics
   • Putting Pen to Paper
   • Lettering and Graphics
3. Use of Hard Landscaping Features
   • Hard and Soft Landscaping
   • Surfaces in the Garden
   • Paving
   • Using Pebbles
   • Rockeries
   • Mulching and Erosion Matting
   • Barriers and Walls
   • Trellis
   • Types of Fencing
   • Patios
   • Seating
   • Garden Structures
   • Garden Art, Features and Furnishings
   • Pools, Ponds and Water Gardens
   • Environmental Sustainability
4. Use of Soft Garden Features
   • Choosing Plants
   • Purchasing Plants
   • Trees in the Landscape (Deciduous, Semi Deciduous, Evergreen)
   • Shrubs
   • Perennials and Herbs
   • Types of Herb Gardens
   • Wildflower Meadows
   • Perennial Displays
   • Annuals
   • Flower Bed Design
   • Cottage Gardens
   • Scented Plants
   • Climbers and Growing plants on Trellis
   • Lawns and Turf varieties
5. Plant Establishment and Maintenance
   • Plants in the Landscape
   • Plant Selection
   • Environmental Factors
   • Improving Environmental Conditions
   • Selecting the Right Plant
   • Which Plant to Buy
   • Understanding Soils and Fertility
   • Plant Nutrition
   • Preparing a Garden
   • Transplanting Techniques
   • Fertilising and Staking
   • Planting Bare Rooted Plants
   • Time of Planting
   • Planting Mistakes to Avoid
   • Gardening in Dry Areas
   • Colourful Year Round Foliage
   • Establishing Annual and Herbaceous Plants
   • Seed
   • Selecting Herbaceous Plants and Bulbs
   • Dividing and Separating Perennials
   • Herbaceous Borders
   • Maximising Flower Displays
   • Selecting Woody Plants
   • Trees and Tree Health
   • Selecting Flowering Shrubs
   • Hedges
   • Climbers
   • Water Plants and Pond Management
   • Plant Health
   • Weed Management
6. Pruning
   • What, Where and Why Prune
   • Removing Dead and Diseased Wood
   • Controlling Type of Growth
   • Distinguishing between Bud Types
   • Controlling Shape and Size
   • Pruning to Rejuvinate a Plant
   • Winter Pruning
   • How to Prune
   • Pruning Different Specific Plant Genera
   • Espaliers
   • Dead Heading
   • Tree Pruning
   • Stopping, Disbudding, Root Pruning, Dead heading etc.
7. Lawns; Establishment and Maintenance
   • Turf Establishment
   • Soil Preparation
   • Seeding, Stolonising, Sodding, Sprigging, Plugging
   • Mowers and Mowing Turf
   • Fertilising Turf
   • Renovation: aeration, scarification, top dressing etc
8. Outdoor Food Production; Vegetables
   • Introduction to Growing Outdoor Food Crops
   • Growing Techniques for Vegetables
   • Planning a Crop
   • Starting a Vegetable Garden
   • Managing the Crop (Weed Control, Pests, Water etc)
   • Special Techniques: No Dig, Green Manure, Cover Crops, Compost etc)
   • Sustainable Cultivation Techniques
   • Planting Techniques
   • Review of major Vegetable Crops
   • Managing Water and Irrigation
9. Outdoor Food Production; Fruit
   • Choosing a Site and Establishing an Orchard
   • Location, Climate, Rainfall and other Site Considerations
   • Deciding what to Grow
   • Scope of Fruit Growing
   • Pest and Disease Management on Fruit -Chemical and Non Chemical
   • Environmental Problems and their Management
   • Pruning Fruit Trees
   • Pollination
   • Review of Sigificant types of Fruits, Berries and Citrus
   • Developing a Production Plan
10. Protected Cultivation
    • Introduction to Protected Growing
    • Types of Growing Structures
    • Factors Affecting Light Transmission in Growing Structures
    • Management of Greenhouses: Benches, Hygeine, Watering, Temperature Control etc
    • Shade Houses
    • Computerised Environmental Control
    • Heating Systems
    • Controlling Light
    • Irrigation & Nutrition Control
    • Feeding Plants
    • Pest and Disease Control in Greenhouses
    • Containers for Growing in
    • Potting Media
    • Indoor Plants and their Management

• Develop an understanding of: design principles and how to apply them; basic surveying; garden features, plant selection; garden planning.
• Develop an understanding of plant selection, establishment and maintenance of a range of ornamental plants and lawns.
• Develop an understanding of basic cultural operations and production methods for outdoor vegetable and fruit crops.
• Develop an understanding of: environmental controls, uses and appropriate applications of greenhouses and other protected plant growing structures; the production of a range of plants in protected structures and the care of plants in the house and conservatory.

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.