Course description

Staring at a rectangle of turf and three fences and not sure where to start? Good garden design isn't about artistic talent. It's careful looking, measuring and planning, done in the right order. This course takes you through that order step by step, from measuring your garden and watching where the sun falls to drawing a scale plan, choosing surfaces and plants, and building it in phases you can afford.

It's a full course, not a quick tour. There are 10 sections and 50 written lessons. You follow a family designing the back garden of their new-build house: bare turf over compacted clay, a wet corner, a window overlooking the far fence and a nine-year-old who wants to play football. They go from a measured survey and a family brief to three concepts, a scale layout plan, a gravel terrace under a pergola, a rain garden and a planting plan, all on a set budget. Every section has a worksheet, answers, a cheat sheet and ready-made templates and workbooks.

What you'll learn

• Surveying: measuring with baselines and offsets, sun and shade through the seasons, soil, drainage, slopes, views, boundaries and hidden services.
• Rules: the basics of planning for fences, front gardens and garden buildings, new-build deeds and conditions, and protected trees.
• Your brief: what everyone wants, how you'll use the space, your style, your time and your budget.
• Design principles: proportion, shape, focal points, repetition, balance and movement.
• Layout: bubble diagrams, concepts, a scale plan at 1:50, sizing patios and paths, and marking it out on the ground.
• Hard landscaping: paving, gravel, decking, paths, edging, boundaries, pergolas, raised beds, rain gardens, water safety and lighting.
• Planting: right plant, right place, layers, form, texture, colour, year-round interest, wildlife and plants to avoid.
• Planting plans and building: spacing and quantities, buying and planting, phasing, new-build soil problems and the first year of care.

Who it's for

Homeowners who want to plan their own garden, especially new-build owners, and anyone redoing a tired or inherited garden, including small, shady, sloping and long thin gardens. No design or gardening experience is needed. It ends with a final project: a survey plan, a design brief, a layout plan, a planting plan and a costed phase plan for your own garden.

What will I learn?

• Measure your garden and draw an accurate survey plan
• Record sun, shade, soil, drainage, levels and views
• Understand the basic planning rules, deeds and protected trees that affect gardens
• Write a design brief that reflects everyone who uses the garden
• Use proportion, shape, focal points and repetition to plan a layout
• Draw concepts and a scale layout plan, and check it on the ground
• Choose surfaces, paths, boundaries, raised beds and water features safely
• Make a planting plan with the right plants, spacing and quantities, then build and look after it in phases

Frequently asked questions