GARDEN DESIGN ONLINE COURSE Become a Garden Designer ...

Work from Home, and tailor a business to your lifestyle.

A Garden Design Service can be offered in the following ways.... a/ A Consultation Only Visit, give verbal advice, & no more b/ A concept plan A plan drawn to scale, but lacking detail -only providing a broad concept c/ Garden Design A plan drawn to detail, showing planting details, specifying other features & components but not specifying the construction detail of hard landscaping (eg. The plan may indicate the location of a wall and say it is to be built with stone, but it won't specify foundations, drainage etc to be incorporated into the wall) d/ Full Landscape Plans and Specifications These contain full and fine detail, including construction details of structures (eg. A plan of how to build a wall showing the drainage, foundations etc)

Course Content There are 30 lessons are outlined as follows:

Introduction to Landscaping 1. Plant Identification 2. History of Gardening 3. Drawing Plans 4. Soils & Nutrition 5. Understanding the Environment 6. Earthworks & Surveying 7. Basic Landscape Construction 8. Surfacings 9. Garden Structures 10. Park Design 11. Home Garden Design 12. Costing & Specifications 13. Trail Design 14. Tools & Machinery 15. Plant Establishment Techniques

16. Ponds & Pools 17. Rockwork & Masonry 18. Lawn Construction Techniques 19. Irrigation Design & Installation 20. Bush Garden Design 21. Cottage Garden Design 22. Playground Design 23. Garden Bed Design 24. Management 25. Land Rehabilitation 26. Drainage 27. Maintenance 28. Dealing with Clients 29. Major Design Project

EXAMPLES OF TASKS UNDERTAKEN IN THIS COURSE

The following are only some of the activities that the student will undertake in this course.

Find a site to be landscaped. (It could be a park or home garden; it could be a new development or a redevelopment of an older garden). Visit the site and record pre planning information required to design the landscape. Find five examples of the use of landscape principles. Using sketches and written descriptions, describe the way the garden has been laid out in order to achieve those particular effects. Find gardens which represent three different styles. Submit a photograph or sketch plan of each along with a half page written description of the style of the garden. Explain any historical influences, including the influence of those who build to owned the garden. The gardens may be gardens you have actually visited, or can be gardens you have seen in a magazine or book. Copy the drawings of symbols (ie. drawings which show you how to represent plants, walls, rocks, etc. when you draw plans). Practice drawing these various components of a landscape. Using the pre-planning information collected, produce a design for that area. or part of that area. Take a sample of soil and attempt to name it using the test given. Obtain components of potting or soil mixes; make up different mixes and test their characteristics. Survey an area requiring earthmoving. Draw a plan of the area, to scale, showing the area to be excavated. Calculate the volume of earth to be removed. Calculate where it is to be put.

Find, observe & report on some bad landscape construction work. (You might discuss a poor rockery, a wall which is falling over, or some playground equipment which is unsafe.) Find three examples of bad selection of surfaces in a landscape (ie. home garden, park, sports oval, tennis court or whatever). Describe the material used and explain why they are bad. Consider both the aesthetic and functional qualities of the surfacing. Develop a redevelopment plan for an existing park. Submit a photograph of the park as it exists at the moment (otherwise submit a rough sketch). Prepare a design for redevelopment in line with the suggested changes. Choose an established home garden (your own or a friends), and draw a sketch plan as the garden exists. Explain how well do you think this garden is designed? Find another home garden, needing either a new design or redevelopment. Prepare four rough sketches showing the stages you would go through in designing or redesigning that particular garden. Develop a detailed explanation of how you prepared your costing in the set task. Show the various components of the costing and explain how and why you costed it this way rather than higher or lower. Design a trail. It can be any type of trail (fun & fitness, nature, history, etc.) and may be located anywhere (a street, park, home garden, etc). Find and visit some recently landscaped gardens (completed within the last 4 months). Visit up to three different properties. Take note of any problems with the maintenance. Consider what could have been done to prevent these problems occurring. Design a perennial border along the front wall of a brick house Prepare a plan for the establishment of a large number of trees in a degraded area. This plan should cover at least 5 years. You should indicate clearly what the problem is and how you are going to use the trees to help rehabilitate the area. Design a water feature (eg. a pond or creek bed) for a bush or natural garden. Submit plans and a step by step description showing how you would construct such a water feature. Design a rockery area for a bush garden. Design a bush garden using mainly ferns, for a small courtyard of specified dimensions

Course Aims

Discuss the principles Garden Design. Develop a foundation for systematic identification of plants and systematic determination of cultural requirements. Develop an awareness of different styles of gardening, principally through the study of the history of gardening. Develop the basic skills of landscape drawing as well as developing a basic understanding of contracts and specifications. Identify soil conditions appropriate for a garden design.

Identify and properly account for environmental conditions within a garden design. Determine earthworks required for a garden design. Consider the relationship between design and construction when designing a garden. Determine appropriate surfacing for different gardens Determine appropriate garden structures for a garden. Evaluate the functionality of a park design. Evaluate the design of a home garden. Develop an appreciation for the impact that design can have on the cost of a garden. Discuss the functionality and design of surfaced areas in a garden or park, including paths, trails and sporting facilities. Discuss the scope and nature of tools used to landscape gardens. Discuss ways that plants may be better established. Discuss the design of water gardens Discuss the use of Rock, Stone, Brick and Concrete in garden designs. Discuss the appropriate use of lawns in garden designs. Discuss the appropriate use of irrigation in garden designs Discuss the design of natural gardens. Discuss the design of cottage gardens. Discuss the design of childrens play areas. Discuss the design of garden beds. Identify Management skills required to be a commercially viable garden designer. Explain methods of rehabilitation of degraded landscapes. Explain methods of dealing with drainage problems in a garden design Discuss the relationship between garden design and maintenance. Explain how a garden designer should successfully deal with clients. Prepare a significant garden design.

DURATION: 600 hours ASSESSMENT: You must satisfactorily complete all assignments and pass two 1.5 hour exams.

FAQ'S (Frequently Asked Questions)

Q. Are these studies recognised? A. ACS has an excellent international reputation.

We have been established since 1979, Our tutors are highly qualified, We are recognised internationally by IARC,

We have affiliations with a group of highly credible colleges from several countries, We maintain credentials or memberships with a range of professional bodies.

Q. Will this get me a job? A. We rarely hear of students having difficulties with employment once a course has been successfully completed. Our courses are designed to make you employable! Having said this though; there is always more to getting a job than just study. Plenty of university graduates end up unemployed. We try to develop more than just knowledge in order to help you avoid such situations. Q. How am I assessed A. Assessment is holistic (We consider not only exam results, but also assignments, and all interaction you have throughout the course with your tutor). If you don't satisfy requirements, you are always given opportunities to resit exams or resubmit assignments. Q. What support will I get? A. Lots more than most colleges. Our priority is to support our students. We have academic staff on duty daily -both in the UK, and in Australia. This means that you can phone or email us and get in touch 16 out of 24 hrs, every working day. Our policy is that student phone calls and emails are given number 1 priority. It is rare that they are not answered on the same working day as when we receive them. Our academics provide mentoring and careers or business advice whenever requested; at no additional cost to our students. Q. How can I be sure I choose the right course? A. We strongly recommend that you use our careers advisory service. Click here

Exams: There are four exams for the course; one after lesson 7, another after lesson 15; a third after lesson 22 and the final at the conclusion of the course.

Some of our Horticulture Tutors

Diana Cole B.A. (Hons), Higher Dip. (Garden Design), RHS Advanced Cert. Horticulture, Cert Admin.Mgt., Dip. Inst. Personnel Management In addition to her RHS horticulture, garden design, City & Guild construction, NPTC pesticide/legislation and business/management qualifications, Diana has a variety of skills drawn from setting up Arbella Gardens, a landscape gardening business. She also has administrative, management and training delivery experience drawn from her employment in other organisations such as the NHS and other educational institutions such as schools &

universities. She has augmented her training expertise having gained the Preparing to Teach in the Life Long Learning Sector qualification. She also has experience gained through working as a volunteer in a number of different roles including amenity style gardening in parks and practical conservation work. Diana is also a member of the National Society of Allotment and Leisure Gardeners Limited (NSALG). Maggi Brown Cert.Ed.(Environment) Maggi is regarded as an expert in Organic Growing throughout the UK, having worked for two decades as Education Officer at the world renowned Henry Doubleday Research Association (now Garden Organic). She has been active in education, environmental management and horticulture across the UK for more them three decades. Yvonne Sharpe RHS Cert.Hort, Dip.Hort, M.Hort, Cert.Ed., Dip.Mgt. Over 30 years of experience in horticulture, education and management, Yvonne hastravelled widely within and beyond Europe, and has worked in many areas of horticulture from garden centres to horticultural therapy. She has served on industry committees and been actively involved with amateur garden clubs for decades. Yvonne is also a member of the National Society of Allotment and Leisure Gardeners (NSALG). John L. Mason Dip.Hort.Sc., Sup'n Cert., FIOH, FPLA, FAIH, MACHPER, MASA Mr Mason has had over 40 years experience in the fields of Horticulture, Business, Education and Journalism. He has extensive experience both as a public servant, and as a small business owner. He has held positions ranging from Nurseryman and Landscape Designer to Director of Parks and Recreation (City of Essendon) and magazine editor. John is a well respected member of many professional associations, and author of over forty books and of over two thousand magazine articles. Even today, John has written a number of best selling reference texts used by horticultural courses at universities and colleges internationally. His publishers include Simon and Shuster, and Landlinks Press (CSIRO Publishing Dr. Lynette Morgan B. Hort. Tech., Ph.D. in Horticultural Science Dr Morgan has a broad expertise in horticulture and crop production, and a keen appreciation of the global scene. She travels widely as a partner in Suntec Horticultural Consultants, and has clients in central America, the USA, Caribbean, South East Asia, the Middle East, Australia and New Zealand. Gavin Cole B.Sc., Psych.Cert., Cert.Garden Design, MACA Gavin has over 20 years of industry experience in Psychology, Landscaping, Publishing and Education. He was operations manager for a highly reputable British Landscape firm (The Chelsea Gardener) before starting up his own firm. He spent the best part of three years working in our Gold Coast office, partly as a writer for Your Backyard (gardening magazine), and partly as a tutor in both psychology and horticulture. Martin Powdrill, Bsc (Hons) Applied Science (Resources Option), MSc Computer Studies, Permaculture Design Certificate. Martins goal as a catalyst for sustainable change brings together his strengths and experience in his environmental, project

management, and business backgrounds. For 25 years, Martin has been involved in Telecommunications, IT, Organisational Development, and Energy Conservation & Efficiency, prior to setting up his own Permaculture consulting business. He wishes to make a real difference to people and the planet, by actively bringing new perspectives to current challenges and exciting opportunities. To realise this, he enables diverse groups of people to flourish and release their untapped potential, by re-igniting their passion and creativity. Additionally, Martin volunteers with many local environmental and community groups, and facilitates discussions on climate change, peak oil, and transition towns. Martin has an allotment, and is currently enrolled in the Scottish Mountain Bike Leader Award programme. Rosemary Davies Dip Hort Sc. Originally from Melbourne, Rosemary trained in Horticultural Applied Science at Burnley, a campus of Melbourne University. Initially she worked with Agriculture Victoria as an extension officer, taught horticulture students, worked on radio with ABC radio (clocking up over 24 years as a presenter of garden talkback programs, initially the only woman presenter on gardening in Victoria) and she simultaneously developed a career as a writer.

Learning Facilities ACS follows the old fashioned idea that the student comes first. Our staff are told to treat every student as an individual and respond promptly to their enquiries; and the facilities we have developed and continue to develop, are all focused on that goal. Facilities include:

Offices in two time zones (UK and Australia) which means an international team of academics are responding to students 5 days a week and 16 hours a day. An online student room with unique resources that are only available to students studying our courses, including online library. Bookshop offering quality downloadable e books A data base of 20 million words of unique information written by our staff over 3 decades that can be drawn upon if needed by academics for use in supporting our students. Systems that ensure assignments are tracked, marked and returned to students, fast -commonly within a round 1 week & rarely more than 2 weeks (note: many other colleges take longer). The school is active in social networking and encourages students to connect with us and each other. No automated handling of student phone enquiries. When you call you get a real person; or leave a message and a real person will call you back within a day, but more commonly within an hour or two. No additional charges for extra tutor support over the phone or email. Free careers advice for graduates It is our policy to provide support and advice to our students even after they graduate. If a graduate needs help with

getting a CV together, or advice on setting up a business or looking for work; they only need ask. The quality of academic staff is higher than many other colleges.

How our Courses Differ

Courses are continually improved we invite feedback from all graduates and change courses immediately the need is detected. Courses are relevant to the whole world we try hard to teach make the learning transferable to any region or country because the world is increasingly a global economy Courses written by our staff, teach different skills to standard courses; giving a unique mix of skills and knowledge to provide a career advantage. Do you want an accredited certificate and the same skills as 100 other job applicants; or one of our courses with skills that no other applicants have? Certificates and diplomas are longer. They teach you more, and our qualifications have built a reputation amongst academics and industry as being a very high standard for this reason. We are focused on helping you learn in a way that improves your capacity to understand your discipline, apply knowledge, and continue learning and developing your capabilities beyond your course.

These things cannot be always said of other colleges. Career Opportunities Study alone can never guarantee career success; but a good education is an important starting point. Success in a career depends upon many things. A course like this is an excellent starting point because it provides a foundation for continued learning, and the means of understanding and dealing with issues you encounter in the workplace. When you have completed an ACS course, you will have not only learnt about the subject, but you will have been prompted to start networking with experts in the discipline and shown how to approach problems that confront you in this field. This and every other industry in todays world is developing in unforeseen ways; and while that is unsettling for anyone who wants to be guaranteed a particular job at the end of a particular course; for others, this rapidly changing career environment is offering new and exciting opportunities almost every month. If you want to do the best that you can in this industry, you need to recognise that the opportunities that confront you at the end of a course, are probably different to anything that has even been thought of when you commence a course.

BOOKS Visit our School bookshop at www.acsebook.com

Downloadable ebooks that can be read on ipads, PCs, Laptops, or readers like a Kindle. Titles are written by our principal and staff.