Nurture Your Garden Design Skills
Learn to design a cottage garden, applying broad concepts and principles loosely or rigidly to create a landscape sympathetic to a period in history or style of architecture. This course involves using heritage or old world plants and features (i.e. formal to semi formal designs with an emphasis on flowers, vegetables, archways, arbours, statues, gazebos, picket fencing, sundials and rustic elements).
How to Stand Out as a Landscape Professional?
Every client wants a garden that is a little different, and one that will impress their friends.
Every client is a little different in their tastes -likes and dislikes!
Landscape designers and contractors who produce great gardens, but always in a similar style, (no matter how popular that style is); will always be competing with each other to "stand out" from the crowd; and convince clients that they can offer that "little bit extra"
By learning about a garden style that other landscapers are not so familiar with; you may be able to offer them something that other landscapers cannot offer!
Some landscapers use this course to become a "specialist"; specialising in the design of cottage gardens. Others may still work on a wide variety of gardens; but what they learn here may just give them a different perspective that can be applied to far more than just cottage style gardens.
“This is a fantastic course for anyone with an interest in cottage gardens or for landscapers and designers wishing to broaden their repertoire. All aspects of cottage gardening are covered from the historical perspective through to plant selection and plans, and students are able to exercise their knowledge by designing their own cottage garden.”
Lesson Structure
There are 8 lessons in this course:
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Introduction to Cottage Gardens
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What is a Cottage Garden
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Components
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Guidelines for Using Cottage Plants
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Plant Naming
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Principles of Landscape Design
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Preplanning Information
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History of Cottage Gardens
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19th century Cottage Gardens
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History of Cottage Gardening
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Case Study
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Design Techniques and Drawing Plans
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Garden Rooms
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Positioning Garden Features
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Framing Views
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Drawing the Plan
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Design Procedure
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Plants for Cottage Gardens
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Mixing Plants
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Designing a Garden Bed
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Perennial Plants
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Designing a Perennial Display or Border
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Bulbs
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Scented Geraniums
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Lavender
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Other Cottage Garden Plants
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Planting Design in Cottage Gardens
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Using Colour in the Garden
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Shade Trees
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Repellent Herb Plants
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Companion Planting
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Planting Design
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Hard Landscape Features and Components
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Walls and Fencing
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Pickets
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Woven Wire Fencing
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Stick Fencing
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Stone Walls
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Garden Art: sculpture, pottery, architecture, wall plaques, sundials, weather vanes, feature tiles, etc.
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Furnishing; outdoor furniture
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Paths, Gravel, Coloured Gravels, bark, brick, cobbles, etc
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Guidelines for Path Design
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Seating
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Arches
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Barriers and Walls
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Cottage Gardens Today
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Where are Cottage Gardens Appropriate
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Making a Courtyard More Exciting
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Planning For Perfection
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Old (disappearing) Garden Skills
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Special Assignment
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Coherence and Contrast
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Evaluating Cottage Garden Designs
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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
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Explain the concept of a cottage garden.
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Prepare concept plans for cottage gardens.
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Prepare planting designs for cottage gardens.
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Plan the incorporation of appropriate non-living landscape features in a cottage garden.
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Prepare a detailed design for a cottage garden.
What You Will Do
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Here are just some of the things you will be doing:
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Explain the concept of a cottage garden, both in historical and modern contexts.
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Explain the influence of one famous landscaper on cottage gardens.
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Explain the relevance of garden design concepts to cottage gardens, including: *Unity *Balance *Proportion *Harmony *Contrast *Rhythm *Line *Form *Mass *Space *Texture *Colour *Tone.
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Analyse the designs of three cottage gardens inspected by you.
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Describe the steps involved, accompanied by a sequence of illustrations, in the planning process for a cottage garden.
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Develop a checklist of pre-planning information required for a proposed cottage garden on a specific site.
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Compile pre-planning information for a specific site, for a proposed cottage garden, through an interview with a potential client, and surveying the site.
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Prepare drawings to represent landscape features on a cottage garden plan, including trees, shrubs, herbs, walls, rocks, buildings and other landscape features.
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Analyse the designs of three different cottage gardens, inspected by you.
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Prepare three different cottage garden concept plans for the same site, to satisfy given design specifications and pre-planning information.
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Prepare a plant collection of fifty-cottage garden plants, which includes: *A photo, drawing or pressed specimen of each plant *Plant names (scientific and common) *Cultural details *Uses/applications in garden design.
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Prepare a planting plan for a garden bed of 20 to 30 square metres in a cottage garden style, including: *A sketch plan *A plant list.
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Design a perennial border of 30 metres in length, in an appropriate cottage garden style.
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Design a 50 to 100 square metre garden bed, which incorporates companion planting principles.
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Evaluate the companion planting design in a cottage garden visited by you.
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Design a colour themed garden, such as a white garden, for an area of 200 square metres or less, to suit a proposed garden redevelopment, on a site visited by you.
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Describe briefly, different non-living features that may be included in a cottage garden, including: *Seating alternatives *Bird baths *Sun dials *Fountains *Statues
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*Pergolas *Gazebos *Fencing *Ponds *Weather vanes.
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Determine criteria for inclusion of different landscape features in a cottage garden, including: *Gazebos *Ornaments *Arbors *Tub plants *Water features *Paths.
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Compare the characteristics, including: *Suitability for a cottage garden *Cost *Availability *Longevity *Appearance *Maintenance, of different landscape materials.
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Explain the use of plant sculpting, including topiary and hedging, in cottage garden designs; including references to: *Ways of creating it *Ways of using it *Maintenance.
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Analyse, in a report including photographs, the use of different structures as features, in the designs of two different cottage gardens, visited by you.
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Prepare three cottage garden concept plans, one each for different specified sites, which incorporate different types of features sympathetic to cottage or heritage gardens.
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Develop a brief for a cottage garden design, for the redevelopment of an established garden around an old building in your locality.
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Analyse the designs of two different well established cottage gardens visited by you.
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Compile pre-planning information for a specified cottage garden development.
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Prepare detailed plans for a cottage garden (following industry standards), including:
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*Detailed plans *Materials lists *Costings.
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Explain the reasoning behind a cottage garden designed by you.
Extend Your Garden Design Skills
Cottage garden style has changed since over recent decades. Today’s cottage garden is about visual appeal with more thought given to complementary colour, texture, form and overall design as compared to the gardens of the past that were practical spaces created to include a diverse range of plants including vegetables and herbs into as little space as possible.
Where Are Cottage Gardens Most Appropriate?
New generations are buying and renovating old homes in cities all over the world. These inner city properties are frequently small, and have an architectural style that suits the cottage garden. From London to Melbourne, it is not uncommon to find cottage style gardens on properties where space is often limited to little more than a couple of courtyards. The challenge with such properties is often “how to make the most of limited space”, but still create the style that is desired.
Opportunities After Study
This course may be studied by itself or along with other modules as part of a higher level qualification.
It is of value to people wishing to work in:
- Garden design
- Landscaping
- Urban Planning
- Architecture
- Construction industries
- Garden maintenance
- Parks & gardens
- Horticulture
- Education
- Research
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