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Garden Design: 8-session course

Monday 30 April 2012

***** This event has now finished *****

Led by landscape architect Marc Linton BA (Hons) MLI, this comprehensive garden design course will cover the principles of garden and planting design, basic surveying techniques, planting styles, plant spacing and planting plans, with the focus on designing a private garden – perfect for designing your own garden! 

The aim of the course is for you to gain confidence to plan, create or revamp a garden that suits your lifestyle and looks good all year round.  You will learn how to draw up your own plan for (part of) your own garden with guidance from Marc. There will be some home study/preparation/work involved.

By the end of the course you will be able to complete a simple survey, analyse the garden space in a holistic way, know and select the hard and soft materials available and have the skills to draw up plans which you will then be able to realise in your garden.

The eight-week course will cover the following:

• what is a garden: a short history of Garden Design, background to the various historical styles of gardens, their origins, and their relevance to gardens today
• assessing the client’s requirements, budget, lifestyle and intended use of garden.
• evaluating the plot and discovering ‘the genius of the place’
• surveying the plot and creating a site plan, including desk-based and site surveying and measuring techniques, basic discussion of software available and pen & paper techniques for drawing up simple plans
• elements of hard design: the structural framework, paving materials; built structures, enclosures and barriers; steps and changes of level; seating and outdoor furniture; lighting; irrigation and water features; containers and ornament; use of environmentally responsible materials
• elements of soft design – the planting: the seasonal garden, how to provide evergreen structure and the use of architectural plants; consider foliage effects as well as flower; plants’ habits, growth patterns, and natural growing conditions, and how to work with them;  combining long-lived plants and ephemerals; role of seasonal maintenance and long-term management
• designing a layout – determining priorities; site zoning and organisation; emphasising or screening existing features and views; playing with scale; creating a sense of sequential / spatial progression; planning for seasons and change over time, etc
• garden construction – drawing up a schedule of works; sequencing of works on site; laying out of features on the ground; planting plans and setting out of plants in  beds; proper planting technique
• working with other professionals – landscape contractors, landscape architects and architects, planning regulations and local authorities, party wall surveyors, structural engineers, water feature specialists, soil scientists

Marc Linton is a Canadian landscape architect, practising for over 20 years on a variety of civic, commercial and residential projects in Britain and abroad. With a particular love of horticulture and a keen interest in garden history and design, he has created award-winning gardens large and small for clients living in both period and modern properties, including a modernist Suffolk garden and several gardens for a restored grand Georgian terrace in Kensington.

Cost: £599 (can be paid in monthly installments) – to include delicious light lunches with a glass of wine!

Dates: Mondays – 30 April; 14, 21, 28 May; 11, 18, 25 June; 2 July. These daytime sessions start at 10.30am and finish at 3.30pm.

Location: The Garden House, 5 Warleigh Road, Brighton BN1 4NT

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