NATURAL GARDEN DESIGN BHT215

CREATE NATURAL LOW MAINTENANCE GARDENS

Creating innovative plans for low maintenance natural gardens can be readily achieved once you develop an understanding of how the natural environment works.

A natural garden frequently makes use of the indigenous flora, or native plants of a particular area. It might make use of other plants as well. Your choice of plants for a natural garden will largely depend upon what affect you are trying to achieve. To appear informal a natural garden should have curves rather than being angular; is informal rather than formal and tends to incorporate nature rather than manipulate it.

This course develops your ability to design any type of natural garden (bush garden, woodland garden, using either indigenous plants or a mixture of both indigenous and other plants).

COURSE STRUCTURE

There are 8 lessons in this course as follows:

1. Introduction to Natural, Wild and Bush Gardens

• What is a Natural Garden
• Natural Gardens in Different Countries
• Soils
• Mulches
• Resources

2.  History of Natural, Wild and Bush Gardens

• Introduction
• History and contributors to the Natural Garden movement
• Theories of Natural Gardening
• History of Gardening
• Capability Brown
• Jeckyll
• Jens Jensen
• Margery Fish
• Edna Walling
• Ellis Stones

3. Developing Concept Plans

• Landscape Design Principles
• Qualities of Landscape Components
• Creating Effects
• Collecting Pre Planning Details
• Drawing Plans
• Design Procedure

4. Plants for Natural Gardens

• Planting
• Plant Establishment
• Building Raised Beds
• Mulching
• Nutrition
• Plant Propagation, species variation, provenance seed source
• Plants for Temperate Wild Gardens
• Plant Maintenance

5. Planting Design in Natural Gardens

• Copying Nature
• Understanding Successions
• Planting Design
• Three Tier Planting
• Aesthetic Criteria for Planting Design
• Procedures for Planting Design
• Plant Application; trees, shrubs, groundcovers, vines and creepers
• Natural Weed Control
• Invasive Plants
• Managing Plant Health
• Types of Natural Gardens
• Rainforest Gardens
• Meadow Gardens
• Woodland Gardens
• Desert Gardens
• Xeriscapes

6. Garden Features

• Pathways
• Ornamentation
• Walls
• Rockeries
• Artificial Rocks
• Terraces and Patios
• Drainage and Erosion

7. Natural Gardens Today

• Introduction
• Wildlife
• Landscaping a Wildlife Garden
• Birds, Reptiles, Mammals
• Ponds
• Attracting and Feeding Birds
• Considering Shaded Areas
• Ferns

8. Bringing It All Together.

• Massed Plantings
• Drifts
• Spotting feature plantings
• Geometric Plantings

Duration: 100 hours

AIMS

• Explain the concept of natural gardens.
• Prepare concept plans for different natural gardens.
• Plan the incorporation of appropriate plants into a natural garden design.
• Plan the appropriate incorporation of non-living landscape features in a natural garden.
• Produce detailed plans for a natural garden.

WHAT YOU WILL DO IN THIS COURSE

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

• Explain the historical development of natural garden design, in your locality.
• Analyse plant inter-relationships within a specific natural environment (e.g. an area of wnational park).
• Analyse the design of different natural gardens.
• Explain, using illustrations, concepts of landscape design, showing their relevance to natural garden design, including: *Unity *Balance *Proportion *Harmony *Contrast *Rhythm *Line *Form *Mass *Space *Texture *Colour *Tone.
• Develop alternative natural garden concept plans for the same specified site.
• Collect pre-planning information for a site for a proposed natural garden, by conducting a site survey, and interviewing a prospective client.
• Explain, through a sequence of illustrations, a logical process of developing a design for a natural garden, on a specific site you survey.
• Prepare concept plans for two small natural gardens, including: *A rainforest garden *A sclerophyll garden.
• List different plants suitable for use in a natural garden design, of a specific style on a specified site, in your locality.
• Explain compatibility considerations, when selecting different plants to include in the same natural garden design.
• Develop a nursery customer information sheet, to provide guidelines for planting design of a natural garden.
• Prepare a plant collection of relevant plants, which includes: *A photo, drawing or pressed specimen of each plant *Plant names (scientific and common) *Cultural details *Uses/applications in garden design.
• Prepare planting designs for three different styles of low maintenance garden beds, between 30 and 60 square meters each in size, and using only Australian Native plants.
• Explain design options for different landscape features in a natural garden, including: *Rockeries *Patios *Water features *Paths.
• Describe the characteristics, including: *Cost *Availability *Longevity *Appearance *Maintenance, of ten different landscape materials, suited for use in a natural garden design.
• Design a water feature for a natural garden, incorporating: *Concept drawings *Materials list *Cost estimates *Guidelines for construction.
• Explain, using illustrations, the structural design of a masonry garden wall.
• Explain, using illustrations, different appropriate applications for timber structures in a natural garden design.
• Prepare plans, including structural diagrams and materials lists, for the construction of three different landscape features, which are appropriate for inclusion in a natural garden.
• Develop a design "Brief" for a natural garden, in consultation with a client, through an interview and site inspection.
• Design a natural garden of 200 to 500 square metres, including: *A landscape plan drawn on tracing paper *Materials specifications, including types and quantities, to suit a site surveyed by you, and emphasising one type of plant, such as ferns, wildflowers or sclerophyll type plants.
• Prepare a detailed professional standard plan for a natural garden of 500 to 2000 square metres, to an acceptable industry standard for a professional garden designer, which includes: *A landscape plan drawn on tracing paper *Materials specifications, including types and quantities.
• Explain the purpose behind decisions made by you in a natural garden designed by you.

• Buy, download and rad immediately on your computer, i pad or reader  ... or download a sample extract for free.

  Garden Design Volume 1 (e book with around 300 colour photos)  http://www.acsbookshop.com/products/2243-garden-design-part-1-pdf.aspx

  Garden Design  Volume 2 (e book with around 300 colour photos)  http://www.acsbookshop.com/products/2245-garden-design-part-2-pdf.aspx

  Starting a Garden or Landscape Business (e book)    http://www.acsbookshop.com/products/2241-starting-a-garden-or-landscape-business-pdf.aspx

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

 http://www.acsbookshop.com/products/2245-garden-design-part-2-pdf.aspx

 

THE ENVIRONMENT OF PLAY by John Mason 2nd edition (publisher: ACS)   Ebook

http://www.acsbookshop.com/products/2087-orchids-a-beginners-guide.aspx

 

TREES and SHRUBS FOR WARM PLACES  by John Mason (publisher ACS)   E Book

http://www.acsbookshop.com/products/2237-trees-and-shrubs-for-warm-places-by-john-mason-pdf.aspx

 

• 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