A well landscaped garden can add 10 % or more to the value of your property.

If you design and build it right, your investment in time and money will be far less than that 10%; but unless you know what you are doing; it is easy to waste both time and money and end up with a poor quality garden that neither serves your needs or is a wise investment.

If you are new to landscaping; you should either take the time to learn and plan; or employ a professional to at leasdt design and advise on your garden project.

If you want to learn, consider either reading credible and good books; or doing a course.

RECOMMENDED LANDSCAPING BOOKS  -click here

HOME LANDSCAPING  COURSE  -click here 

This course is designed to teach you how to design (or renovate), and maintain, a home garden. It is suitable both for beginners and for experienced gardeners who want to develop a solid understanding of the principles and procedures underlying the design and development of garden areas. 

 

COURSE AIMS

• Understand the design procedure and the principles of landscape design
• Develop knowledge of garden styles through history and apply this to your own designs
• Develop skills in graphical techniques for plan drawing
• Develop knowledge of soil properties and their relevance to home horticulture
• Understand the principles and practices of basic landscape construction
• Develop knowledge of pests and weeds, and their management in home horticulture
• Develop skills in planting and pruning for home gardens
• Develop knowledge of lawns and surfaces appropriate to home landscaping
• Develop knowledge of landscape furnishings and other features appropriate for home gardens
• Utilise skills developed during this course to develop a landscape design for a home garden

 

COURSE STRUCTURE

There are ten lessons in this unit as follows:

1.       Designing Gardens

            - the basics of design concepts through to understanding how to use them.

2.       Styles of Gardens

            - formal, informal, natural, and other themes.

3.       Drawing Plans ‑Designing Gardens

            - learn how to draw basic landscape features and garden designs.

4.       Understanding Soils

            - clays, loams, sands - how to identify them and treat them for better plant growth.

5.       Basic Landscape Construction

            - what is involved to build basic structures like steps, walls, paths, etc.

6.       Weeds & Pests

            - how to identify and treat garden weeds and pests.

7.       Planting and Pruning

            - techniques to plant, prune and care for garden plants.

8.       Lawns, paving and other surfacing

            - care for various surfaces

9.       Garden Features

            - how to select and use garden features in a landscape.

10.  Developing "YOUR" Garden - Special Project

 

WHAT YOU WILL DO IN THIS COURSE

• Find a site to be landscaped and record pre planning information required to design the landscape; 
• Photograph or sketch a plant of three gardens representing three different styles, and discuss any historical influences on the design;
• Using the pre planning information collected earlier, produce a design for an un-landscaped area;
• Test the drainage of a soil sample and comment;
• Explain how you can tell if a plant is suffering a nitrogen deficiency;
• Contact your state government's forestry department to discover what timbers are suitable for different uses in landscaping, what timbers need treatment with preservatives and which do not; 
• Draw a design for detailed construction of some garden structure) and describe how you would go about building and installing the structure in a landscape;
• Explain the difference between a systemic pesticide and a contact pesticide;
• List the plants in your garden which require regular pruning, and how and when you would prune each;
• Contact several quarries in your area to find what is available and the prices;
• Draw a sketch plan of a site in your garden and a plan for a garden bed on that site;
• Prepare a full landscape plan (including plant lists) for developing your garden.
• For each lesson, prepare plant review sheets with descriptions of 6 different plants.
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Click here for more details or to enrol.