Your course includes:

• Ten inspiring weekly classes with a short half-term break.
• An enjoyable and supportive learning environment with like-minded people who share your passion for gardens.
• Personal feedback on your practical work each week.
• Weekly practical design exercises to help you develop a design for your own garden.
• Step-by-step guidance from Caroline throughout the design process.
• A final review and catch-up clinic to revisit topics, ask questions and receive feedback on any outstanding work.
• Small-group teaching.
• Digital course notes and reference materials to support your learning.
• Demonstrations, illustrated presentations and real-life case study examples.
• Self-service tea and coffee throughout the day.
• Use of the school kitchen during breaks (please bring a packed lunch and any additional refreshments or snacks you may like).

You'll learn how to:

• Generate creative design ideas.
• Carry out a basic site appraisal and survey.
• Develop a design sketchbook and mood boards.
• Produce a master layout plan.
• Create a planting plan.
• Communicate your ideas using simple 3D visuals.
• Use technical drawing equipment with confidence.
• Create professional-looking plans and digital mood boards using Affinity software (optional).

Students who complete the practical course exercises will receive a certificate of completion.

Specific topics include:

• creative and technical research
• the value of sketchbooks
• the design process
• buying a site plan
• reprographics centres
• site survey and site appraisal
• drawing up the site survey
• mood boards
• organising your ideas
• mood board map
• design wish list
• the good, the bad and the ugly
• the John Brookes grid method
• creating patterns
• using the grid
• the design rules
• patterns first, the garden design second
• graphic symbols
• pencil draft of the overall garden
  design 
• inking up the design or create digital
  file
• checking the scale of elements in
  the design
• Affinity demo
• labelling up the plan and title blocks
• setting out your design in a professional manner
• how 3D visuals can help
• demonstration of SketchUp
• traditional mixed border planting plans
• advanced planting styles
• matrix planting, meadows and prairie planting

We recommend allowing at least one day each week to complete the practical design exercises at home. These exercises build week by week, helping you develop a professional standard design for your own garden.

There are recommended homework exercises each week, but we understand that life can sometimes get in the way. If you're unable to attend a class or don't manage to complete the practical work one week, you're welcome to bring it along to a later session for feedback. The final class also includes a dedicated 'mop-up' clinic, giving you the opportunity to revisit topics, ask questions and receive feedback on any outstanding work.

While you're welcome to work at your own pace, the more you put into the practical exercises, the more you'll get out of the course. The practical work isn't compulsory, but we strongly recommend completing the core exercises if you'd like to finish the course with a professional standard design for your own garden and receive a certificate of completion.

The core practical exercises include a site appraisal and survey, a design sketchbook, a master layout plan, a planting plan, at least one mood board and one 3D visual.

Not at all. No previous design experience, drawing ability or plant knowledge is required. The course is suitable for complete beginners, while also offering plenty to inspire keen gardeners who would like to learn a more structured approach to designing their own garden.

Caroline will guide you through each stage of the design process, helping you build the confidence and practical skills to create a garden that's tailored to your own space.

Not at all. You don't need any previous plant knowledge. Learning about plants is a lifelong journey and one of the great pleasures of gardening.

Caroline will share practical planting tips and recommend a range of beautiful, reliable plants to inspire your own garden. The course focuses on the design process, giving you enough planting guidance to make informed choices without needing extensive plant knowledge.

Please don't worry! This is one of the most common concerns we hear, but we genuinely believe that everyone is creative.

Our courses are designed for all levels of experience, including complete beginners. Over the years, Caroline has helped hundreds of students discover that creativity isn't something you're either born with or without – it's something that can be encouraged, nurtured and developed.

Many of us have simply lost confidence in our creativity through past experiences, teachers or our own inner doubts. Rediscovering that creativity and learning to trust your own ideas can be one of the most rewarding parts of the course.

Caroline has tried to keep the equipment list to a minimum, and you'll find a recommended list above.

There's no need to buy everything before the course starts. On the first day, Caroline will introduce and demonstrate all of the equipment you'll be using throughout the course, so you'll have the opportunity to see what everything is for before deciding what you need.

The only item we recommend having from the start is a sketchbook, as you'll begin using it for your first practical homework exercise. All other equipment can be purchased as the course progresses.

Each course day we start at 10:00 by serving tea and coffee. The teaching starts at 10:30 and we usually break for lunch at 1:00 pm.

We will be finished by 4:00 pm.

Very little, unless you choose to use it. The course is designed around traditional, paper-based design techniques, and everything can be completed by hand.

If you'd like to explore digital tools, Caroline will introduce ways of creating professional-looking plans and digital mood boards using freely available desktop publishing software. Using a computer is entirely optional, and only basic computer skills are required.

Caroline will also demonstrate SketchUp as an example of how 3D modelling software can be used to create visual representations of a garden design. This demonstration is for inspiration only and is not a practical part of the course. A SketchUp subscription is not included as part of the course.

Don't worry – most of our students have little or no previous drawing experience. Caroline has many years of experience helping complete beginners develop the confidence to communicate their ideas.

Most of the drawing you'll do is technical drawing using simple drawing equipment such as ink pens and a propelling pencil. It doesn't require artistic talent – just a little patience and practice.

If freehand sketching isn't your strength, that's absolutely fine. Caroline will show you a range of different ways to communicate your ideas, including simple 3D visuals, so you can find an approach that works for you.

This course has been specifically written to be suitable for everyone including absolute beginners.

The course fee is £1,250 for the ten-week programme.

To secure your place, we first ask you to complete a short online registration form, telling us a little about your garden. This helps us ensure the course is suitable for your project and allows us to offer advice if your garden is particularly large or complex.

Once we've received your form, we'll send you a link to pay the non-refundable £250 deposit. The remaining £1,000 balance is payable by bank transfer no later than one week before the course starts. We'll provide our bank details once your deposit has been received.

If your garden is larger than can realistically be surveyed and designed during the course, we'll discuss this with you before you book. In most cases, we recommend designing one selected area in detail, so you can learn the complete design process and then apply it to the rest of your garden afterwards.