LANDSCAPING I BHT109

START LEARNING GARDEN LANDSCAPING

At the end of this 100 course you will be able to design a garden, and will have a foundation for further studies in specific areas of landscape design, development or management. Learn the principles that underpin all design.

See how garden styles have evolved over the centuries, and broaden your understanding of how to use different garden components to create varying affects.

• Some people who work in garden centres have done this chourse. Nurserymen value sales staff who can design a garden; as such staff can better advise customers, and perhaps offer an additional saleable service.
• Some garden contractors have chosen this course so they can offer an additional service to complement existing service
• Some people who work in an architects office, engineering or town planning department or property development company choose this course so they can create necesry landscape plans in house, rather than out sourcing the work.
• Some landscape contractors have done this course to enable them to present ideas better to clients and prepare proper contract documentation for jobs they undertake
• Some people have pursued this course as a step toward setting up a small part time business (either to supplementother work; or to take a step toward moving onto a new career path).

Duration: 100 hours

COURSE STRUCTURE

The ten lessons are as follows:

1. Basic Design Procedure A

• Scope of Landscaping
• Dynamic Nature of Gardens
• Plant Naming
• Plant Identification and Selection
• Botanical Families; a basis for identification
• Principles of Landscaping
• Design Elements
• Design Effects
• Climate, Microclimate and Aspect
• Collecting pre-planning information

2. History of Gardening

• Formal Gardens
• Informal Gardens
• Natural Gardens
• Cottage Gardens
• Other garden styles and themes, oriental, mediterranean, etc
• Potted History of Gardens: Roman, Chinese, Dark Ages, Le Notre, Brown, Jeckyll, etc

3. Draughting and Contracting

• Concept Plans
• Scale Drawing
• Presentation Plan
• Computer Aided Design
• Drawing techniques (Graphics)
• Design Procedure
• Specifications and Contracts

4. Basic Landscape Construction

• Drainage and Erosion
• Gradients
• Walling
• Rockeries
• Steps
• Creating Mounds
• Earth Shaping
• Playstructures
• Gravel and Paths

5. Surfacings

• Gradients
• Surfacings
• Gravel
• Soft Surfacing
• Grass
• Concrete
• Asphalt
• Timber
• Paving
• Rubbers and Textiles
• Substrates
• Performance Considerations

6. Furnishings and Features

• Criteria for selecting Structural Components
• Garden Furniture and Garden Rooms
• Using Furniture in the Garden
• Outdoor Tables and Chairs
• Garden Art; types, selection, use
• Lighting
• Design considerations for Play Structures
• Water Displays and Fountains
• Skate Facilities

7. Park Design A

• Park Components
• Ornaments
• Walls, Fences and Windbreaks
• Enclosed Gardens
• Gates and Gateways
• Windbreaks
• Recreational Landscaping
• Criteria for Public Outdoor Space Design
• Why Parks are Under used
• Types of Playgrounds
• Making Community Participation Work

8. Home Garden Design

• Components of a Home Garden
• Where Garden Meets House
• Bringing the Outside In
• Buildings in a Home Garden
• Courtyards

9. Design Procedure B

• The Design Process
• Design Elements
• Components of a Recreational Landscape
• Designing Narrow Gardens
• Water Garden Design
• Water Effects: sound, reflection, movement, light, cooling
• Using Water Plants
• Formal and Informal Pools

10. Park Design B

• Creating Trails
• Planning a Trail
• Types of Trails: Fitness, Nature, Sensory, Cryptic Puzzle, etc
• Sporting Facilities
• Outdoor Courts
• Fun and Fitness Trails
• Motor Vehicles in Parks
• Plus A Special Assignment - comprehensive landscape

AIMS

• Create visual effects through the use of different landscape design concepts.
• Determine pre-planning information required to prepare a landscape design.
• Determine an appropriate garden style for a landscape, to satisfy specifications for a design project.
• Illustrate a landscape design through a plan, using legible graphic skills.
• Determine different hard landscape features, including earthworks, surface treatments and furniture, to incorporate in a landscape.
• Prepare planting designs for different landscapes.
• Design different types of landscapes, including domestic gardens and public parks

WHAT IS LANDSCAPE DESIGN

Landscape Design is a multifaceted skill. It allows you to take a vision or "feeling" and transform it into a workable plan. It isn't just making a place look nice, nor mass planting, but is also about suiting the landscape to the climate, land and setting that you have to work with. An understanding of plants, soils, timbers, climate, and other landscape materials are pivotal to the success of a good landscape design.

WHAT THE COURSE COVERS

Here are just some of the things you may be doing:

• Explain the complete range of principles, elements and concepts used in landscape design.
• Visit and analyse a broad range of landscape styles, themes and components.
• Perform methods utilised to develop concepts and to create affects.
• Identify, record and utilise pre-planning information for the purpose of design development, and to use a checklist as a guide for surveying a site for a proposed design.
• Perform site survey and client interview with the site owner/manager.
• Explain the significance of effective client liaison, in a specific landscape job.
• -Identify historical influences on landscaping in your locality.
• Explain the influence on modern garden design, of work by three garden designers who have been prominent in world garden history.
• Develop and compare the appropriateness of three design options for one specific landscape project.
• Draw an extensive range of different landscape symbols on paper, covering soft and hard landscape features.
• Transpose two different landscape drawings, reducing the scale by a specified amount.
• Draw a plan for a landscape, using legible graphic techniques.
• Determine site preparations required for a specified landscape site, including:

• clearing/cleaning
• earthworks.

• Explain the legal requirements for cleaning up after a job in your locality.
• Determine suitable timbers for construction of four different types of garden structures.
• Compare the suitability of different materials for surfacing paths, including:

• Asphalt
• Concrete
• Local gravels
• Local mulches
• Timber
• Ceramics.

• Collect, catalogue and determine appropriate use for different items of garden furniture.
• Design a paved area for a garden surveyed, including: scale drawings and construction instructions.
• Prepare a resource directory/collection of different plants incorporating:

• Illustrations of plant, Scientific and common plant names & Cultural details
• How to use each of these plants in different landscape situations uses.

• Evaluate established landscapes based in:

• Costs
• Maintenance
• Function
• Aesthetics

• Develop detailed planting designs, including plant lists, for three landscape plans, to satisfy given job specifications.
• Analyse and compare the landscape designs of numerous selected homes and public parks.
• Develop and prepare concept plans for landscape areas such as:

• Outdoor living area
• Kitchen garden
• Courtyard
• Childrens playground
• Entry to home
• Neighbourhood park

• Draft a series of conceptual plans, showing stages in the design of a home garden you surveyed.
• Prepare a professional standard landscape design for a client in your, including:

• A landscape plan drawn on tracing paper.
• Materials specifications, including types and quantities.
• Budget details.

REASONS TO STUDY WITH ACS DISTANCE EDUCATION

• Reputation:
    -teaching Horticulture since 1979
    -exceptional faculty staff (see below)
• Hands on: develop practical as well as theoretical skills
• Uniqueness:
    -successful people are always those who can offer a skill or service that others can't
    -this course is different; our graduates have different skills to set them apart.
• Relevance -curriculum developed in response to industry needs
• Lots of help: personal, prompt attention from tutors
• Holistic Courses: We teach more than just "facts"
    -success is only 20% about intelligence (and what you know)
    -you also need to build networking, problem solving & communication skills, and more!
    -this course helps you develop all of these things and more
• Value: courses compare very favorably on a cost per study hour basis
• Up to date: courses under constant review
• Student amenities: This school is backed by over one of the most unique and comprehensive private collections of intellectual property in the horticultural industry. The principal and staff have written and published over 50 books and 150 gardening magazines, as well as 20,000 hours horticultural study programs. A team of 5 horticultural writers continue to develop and update new material continually. These resources together with web sites, an online student room, social media etc. provide a unique and comprehensive facility to support students studying with the school.

OUR FACULTY
These are just some of the people involved with developing and updating courses; and tutoring our horticulture students

John Mason Dip.Hort.Sc.
40 years + in horticulture Graduated from Burnley Horticultural College in 1971,Nurseryman, Landscape Designer and Parks Director through the 1970's. One of Australia's most published garden writers, author of books published by Simon and Schuster, Harper Collins, CSIRO and other major publishers; Editor for 4 different national gardening magazines; honored as a fellow of both the Institute of Horticulture in Australia and the Institute of Horticulture in the UK.

Gavin Cole B.Sc., M.Psych.
30 years + in horticulture. Renowned horticulturist and psychologist. Former operations manager for the highly regarded "Chelsea Gardener" landscape firm in London, garden writer and landscaper in both Brisbane and Adelaide in Australia.

Maggi Brown
40 years + in horticulture. Former education manager for "Garden Organic"; England's peak organic gardening and farming body.

Dr Lyn Morgan Phd
25 years + in horticulture. New Zealand based hydroponic consultant and author, with experience working everywhere from Asia to America.

Rosemary Davies Dip.Hort.Sc.
30 years + in horticulture; including Victorian Department of Agriculture Gradening Advisor, Gardening Editor/writer/author for major publishers and newspapers.

Diana Cole  B,A., RHS Dip Hort, NTEC Higher Dip in Garden Design
15 years + in horticulture and landscaping

Adriana Fraser Adv.Dip.Hort.
30 years + in horticulture. Consultant, teacher, garden write, manager of plant collections

Bob James B.App.Sc(Hort), M. Env.Sc., Grad.Dip.Mgt., PDC, Dip.An.Husb.

Yvonne Sharpe  Dip.Hort., M.Hort.

Martin Powdrill  B.Sc(Hons), M.Sc. PDC

Marie Beerman  B.Sc., M.Hort.  

REFERENCE BOOKS
ACS operates a student bookshop that supplies a range of horticulture texts to supplement our courses.
Many are written by the principal (well known gardening author John Mason), or other staff. All have been reviewed and approved by our academic experts (to be accurate and relevant to students studying our horticulture courses).

• Student discounts are available to anyone studying with ACS Distance Education.
• Both printed books and ebooks (as downloads) available

GROWING TREES and SHRUBS for SMALL GARDENS by John Mason

http://www.acsbookshop.com/products/1684-growing-trees-and-shrubs-for-small-gardens.aspx

TROPICAL and WARM CLIMATE GARDENING  by John Mason (publisher Bay Books)  Printed Book

GROWING AUSTRALIAN NATIVES 2nd edition  Printed Book

• Click on above link for info
• Sample pages available to download for all ebook
• E Books can be purchased online for immediate download (Can be read on a computer, ipad, iphone, lap top, most book readers or similar devices).
• GO TO www.acsbookshop.com for more titles