Caroline will be on hand every day to support and advise you and to help you make the right decision about your future career.

You will experience what day-to-day life is like for a garden designer and get the feel for working in a creative studio. 

There will be lots of examples of Caroline’s client work to see as well as informative slide shows of real case studies showing gardens before, during and after the design process.

Each day there will be short lectures and practical exercises to complete with Caroline's guidance.

Please see the equipment list outlining what you need to bring with you.

There is no homework associated with this course.

Not at all! If you are worried about drawing or using a computer, or perhaps that your plant knowledge is an issue this course will present an opportunity to discuss these worries with Caroline - who always has a supportive suggestion having been through a career change herself.

This is frequently a worry for almost every new student. Plant knowledge is a life-long journey and it is absolutely fine to be at the very start of your progress. We want it to feel exciting and not daunting for you.

One of the strategies that Caroline will be sharing is the 'Nifty Fifty' plant portfolio that will be compiled during the One Year Diploma Cousre. This is a carefully selected group of useful plants - that you will delve into throughout your new career. it is far better to have a deep understanding of a select group of plants than a shallow knowledge of the half a million in cultivation! Caroline will describe and demonstrate how this philosophy still underpins her professional practice today.

Please don't worry about this. We are all creative, it is merely that some of us have had this idea shut down at school or beyond. We have over a decade of experience in connecting people with their natural creativity. Year after year we have seen students amazed and delighted by what they have achieved.

There is an equipment list for this course. We have kept it to a minimum and please do give us a call if anything is unclear. Please see the equipment list button at the top of this page.

There is no obligation or pressure to sign up for the longer course, but in our experience, you will have a fantastic time, really appreciate what it’s all about and be filled with enthusiasm! If you feel ready to apply by the end of the three days we can arrange an interview with Caroline on the last afternoon - which still comes with no obligation but gives you the chance to discuss your future career with Caroline.

It is also perfectly valid to attend this course if you just want to experience and learn more about the process of garden design without taking things further.

You do not need to bring a laptop with you and we will not be using computers over the three days. We will however be discussing how they can help to speed up your productivity in your new career. On the professional diploma, you will be using a desktop publishing package called 'Affinity Publisher' and a computer modelling package called 'SketchUp'. Caroline will show you examples of these during the three days but we will not be using the software specifically.

Great! We love drawing novices and we are very experienced with supporting this. There will be practice required on the diploma course and the harder you work the better your drawing will get. We are not sketching like an artist but practicing technical drawing with an ink pen and a ruler to create detailed and accurate design plans.

We have built up a great deal of experience in delivering content online if it should become necessary, even at short notice. Our schoolroom is fully risk assessed for COVID safety but if you are not able to attend this course due to government restrictions, we will work together on Zoom with all the same content and exercises to do.

• Limited group sizes
• Lead tutor: Caroline Tatham
• Creative design exercises
• Understanding sketchbooks
• Introduction to garden design
• Introduction to planting design
• Examples and case studies
• Technical drawing
• How computers can help

Those seeking to begin a new career in garden design and who would like to try out both a design course and our school.

This is a feeder course for the One Year Professional Garden Design Diploma course.

If you go on to make a successful application for the one year garden design course, the fee from this taster course will be deducted from the one year course fee.

10:00 tea and coffee is served

10:30 teaching begins  

16:00 close of day (may vary)

Price £365

Minimum number required to run this course.

You'll find the start date for this course on the main timetable. Unusally for our courses, Gateway to Garden Design runs on three consecutive days from and including the published date.