The Planting Design Course

Master planting principles to craft cohesive gardens by balancing scale and proportion, unity, and the right plant in the right place.

Explore how trees, shrubs, and climbers shape planting design with structure, screening, and focal points. Learn to select by size, habitat, and hedges for cohesive garden plans.

Discover how perennials, grasses, bulbs, annuals, and native plants shape resilient, seasonally dynamic borders using interlocking drifts, odd-number plantings, and structure from shrubs and climbers.

Explore plant form, texture, and color to design coherent planting schemes; learn form variety, texture effects, and color combinations that shape mood and rhythm in gardens.

Learn to design a planting plan that maps plant locations, Latin names, and quantities for clients and contractors, with proper scale and legible labeling.

Learn to create elevations and sections from a garden plan, depicting vertical views and 3d space while avoiding perspective, with plan-based guidance and labeling.

Present planting designs to clients using concept boards, mood boards, and realistic visuals including elevations, sections, sketches, and photomontages to scale, to convey mood and layout clearly.

Learn to create a practical garden maintenance schedule that supports year-round care, organizes monthly tasks by plant categories, and includes major features to ease client upkeep.

Continue learning after this course by researching influential designers like Beth Chatto and Pete Oudolf, and applying the right plant–right place rule to ensure thriving, sustainable plantings.

Explore planting design through its history, forms, structure, color, plant categories, and core principles, and learn to create planting plans with elevations and sections to present ideas to clients.