Creating a Garden Theme

Learn to design different types of themed gardens

• Formal, informal or natural gardens
• Large or small gardens
• Oriental, Tropical, Mediterranean, Eclectic or other styles

Lesson Structure

There are 11 lessons in this course:

1. FORMAL GARDENS
   • Elements of the formal garden
   • A parterre
   • An avenue
   • Hedged beds, topiary
   • Arched walkway
   • Ornamentation
   • Terraces, steps
   • Simple formal gardens - keeping planting scheme simple
   • Formal areas
2. NATURAL GARDENS
   • How to develop a natural garden
   • Groundwork, choosing plants
   • Nurturing wildlife
   • Organic gardening, natural weed control
   • Natural tools
   • Integrated pest management
   • Permaculture
3. RAINFOREST GARDENS
   • What is a rainforest garden
   • Size
   • Where to create a rainforest garden
   • Considerations, problems, fire risk
4. COASTAL GARDENS
   • Other strategies for growing coastal plants
   • Dealing with salt
   • Creating wind breaks
   • Other strategies - tree guards, container growing, conserving moisture, drip irrigation, fertiliser
   • Hardy seaside plants - trees, shrubs, ground cover, climbers
5. COTTAGE GARDENS
   • Principles of cottage garden design
   • Mixed planting, old fashioned features, companion planting, etc
   • Cottage garden plants - annuals, perennials climbers, shrubs, etc
   • Cottage garden features - statues, gates, arches, sundials, weathervanes, garden furniture, urns, pots, tubs
6. LATE VICTORIAN/EDWARDIAN GARDENS
   • Gardens at the beginning of the 20th century
   • How to create your own Edwardian style garden
   • Edwardian features - gazebos, statuary, gates, arches, furnishings, containers
7. ORIENTAL GARDENS
   • Introduction
   • Chinese gardening
   • Japanese gardening
   • Traditional oriental garden plants
   • Water in oriental gardens
   • Japanese gardens
   • Use of rocks
   • Other features - tori, bamboo fence, moss garden, bridges, deer scarer
8. MEDITERRANEAN GARDENS
   • What is a Mediterranean garden?
   • The features
   • Plants for mediterranean gardens
   • Foliage and flower features
9. MEXICAN STYLE
   • Create a Mexican flavour
   • How Mexican gardens involved
   • How to reflect the plants
   • Dry Mexican garden
   • Woodland
   • Mexican rainforest
   • Introduced plants
   • Tips for Mexican style garden
10. MINIMALIST LANDSCAPE DESIGN
    • What is it
    • Why do it
    • Designing a minimalist garden
    • Walls
    • Floors
    • Plants
    • Furniture
    • Ornaments
    • Water
    • Some variations on minimalist gardens
    • Problems with Minimalist Gardens
11. ECLECTIC GARDENS
    • Emergence of the Eclectic garden
    • Beauty in the eye of the beholder
    • Beware a lack of Contrast
    • Ideas for creating an eclectic garden
    • Final assessment

Who is this Course For?

• Amateur and professional gardeners
• Landscape professionals
• Professional development for even garden designers
• Property owners, investors, developers, builders
• Horticulture or gardening students
• Anyone with a passion for different types of gardens and a desire to learn more