Planting Design

An Intermediate Course
 

Module One - An Introduction to Planting Design:

What is a Planting Plan and what should it contain? ~ The importance of the plan in relation to the overall design ~ What needs to be considered? ~ The Design Process - a step by step approach.

Module Two - Site analysis:

Soils ~ types/texture, structure, pH, effects on availability of water, air, nutrients, plant health ~ Drainage & Soil management techniques, soil conditioning, planting techniques, mulches ~ Aspect and Climate; light levels ~ Site analysis in terms of planting - existing plants to be retained ~ Legal constraints ~ Hedges, TPO, site levels, boundaries and fences, views to retain/obscure, existing structural elements to be retained.

Module Three - The Design Brief:

Client preferences ~ Site constraints ~ Design preferences- style, structure, colours, season.

Module Four  - An Introduction to Plants:

The right Plant for the right place ~ Nomenclature and Classification ~ Plant requirements - basic needs to survive/thrive, basic biology ~ Plant sizes, types & characteristics; trees, shrubs, perennials, climbers etc.

Module Five - Planting Design Principles:

Formal/informal ~ Style & mood ~ Layers of interest ~ Successional Planting/Seasonal Interest ~ Colour, Form & Texture ~ Mass & Space ~ Scale, Proportion and Perspective ~ Building a framework ~ Creating the right associations; plants, materials, features and furniture.

Module Six - Plant groups and Design:

Structural/skeleton ~ Focal Point/Specials ~ Ground Cover ~ Ornamental ~ Functional.

Module Seven - A Consideration of Planting Styles:

Architectural ~ Wild/Naturalistic ~ Exotic/tropical ~ Prairie ~ Colour Themed ~ English; Gertrude Jekyll ~ English; Cottage ~ English; Formal ~ English: Victorian & other historical styles ~ English; Contemporary ~ European; Contemporary ~ European traditional; France, Spain, Italy and the Mediterranean ~ Japan and the Orient.

Module Eight - Special Sites:

Bogs and Water Gardens ~ Gravel ~ Woodland ~ Meadow ~ Coastal ~ Rural, Urban and Courtyards.

Module Nine - Feature Plants & Plantings:

Mixed Borders ~ Massed Perennial ~ The Herbaceous Border ~ Colour Themed ~ Grasses ~ Topiary ~ Climbing Plants ~ Scented Plants ~ Container Planting ~ Potagers/Herb Garden ~ Plants & lighting in the garden.

Module Ten - Drawing Planting Plans:

The Outline Plan ~ Plotting Numbers of plants ~ Planned redundancy ~ Drawing symbols ~ Detailed Plan Drawings; illustration, simple perspective, elevations ~ The finished Planting Plan ~ Implementation; Sourcing and costing ~ Planting Techniques ~ Maintenance schedules.

 

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Current Fees for this course are £645:00

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A short extract from the course

Proportion

 

Proportion is based an unchanging relationship between two or more elements.  Euclid, a Greek mathematician, described it as  a quantitative comparison between two similar things. Proportion is the principle that enables us to make sense of our world and to recognise objects within it.  We may recognise regional landscapes by the proportional relationship between land and sky, hence the term 'big sky country' which refers to the western prairies of the United States.  We also recognise people we know at a distance not by their facial features, but their particular body shape and proportions ~ leg to torso, height to shoulder width etc.  The actual size of things is not a significant factor in our understanding of the world around us, it is the relationship between parts that we recognise and that is important in design.

Statues of the Greek Gods and Goddesses have long been valued for their great beauty.  The statue of the Greek Goddess of love, Aphrodite, is much larger in stature than the average female figure standing some 6' 8" high and with a waistline of 45".  Considered as a whole, however, she is large in scale but her proportions are "balanced, harmonious and aesthetically pleasing".

A number of proportioning systems have been applied to design, with the intent being to achieve visual order among the various built elements of the design.  Euclid is credited with developing the concept of the Golden Mean (sometimes referred to as the Golden Section): the notion of the importance of proportion and balance espoused also as 'moderation in all things'.  The concept supported the notion of moderation and balance in all areas of life.