Michael King
Gardening with Grasses
- Regular price
- £140.00
- Sale price
- £140.00
- Regular price
Tax included.
Compare Expert and Peer
Join grass and garden design expert Michael King as he teaches you how to use ornamental grasses in your garden designs in his online Gardening with Grasses course.
Michael has written books jointly with Piet Oudolf (famous garden designer and plantsman), which looked at using ornamental grasses and other perennials in the new naturalistic garden style.
Ornamental grasses are a core component of a garden designer’s planting palette and work well when planted with other plants. Grass planting can have a huge impact on a garden and this course teaches you how to control and use their bold presence in planting designs.
Grasses can be highly effective as powerful design features, but they can also be disruptive and overpowering if not handled with care.
On this course Michael focuses on the best grasses for a wide range of different growing conditions and situations (including grasses for shade and creating shade) and covers the advantages of unique qualities of this large and diverse group of plants, with examples of specific grasses and inspiring ornamental grass designs.
You'll learn:
- how to use ornamental grasses in your garden designs confidently
- including contrast and focus to your garden designs
- the best grasses to use depending on your location and garden conditions
- controlling grasses
The course includes:
- 4 on-demand video lessons - presented by Michael King
- lifetime access to the videos, notes and interactive class
- flexible classes - join and learn when and where you like
- downloadable lesson notes
- practical gardening with grasses projects (with tutor feedback available)
- access on your mobile, PC, Mac or laptop
- small interactive online classroom - chat online to students from around the world and share your creative ideas
Time to complete the planting design course:
Every student is different but in general we think the whole course will take around 13 hours 50 minutes to complete including:
- Video lessons: 1 hour 50 minutes in total
- Course notes: 30 minutes per lesson
- Your planting design projects: at least 2 hours per lesson
- Interactive classroom time: 15 minutes per lesson
- Tutor feedback review (Expert level): 15 minutes per lesson
You'll need:
You'll need a sketchbook to make your garden designs and planting sketches for each assignment. This courses is suitable for all levels of gardener - from beginners to experts looking to specialise in the use of grasses in the garden.
Ready to get started?
Just add the course to your basket above - choose the 'Expert' option for personal feedback from Michael on your grass assignments.
If you know someone who'd love this course then give it as a gift - just tick "This is a gift" at the checkout.
Any questions? Contact us by clicking on the orange speech symbol - we'd love to hear from you.
Lessons
What You’ll Learn
Explore the lessons and topics covered across the course.
In this lesson Michael will introduce you to the world of ornamental grasses. We will look at their unique characteristics and why you might choose specific species within planting designs. You will learn how they can create associations with the natural countryside or bring new elements to a design by creating focal points, a new leaf pattern and form or to build the three dimensional structure of a garden design.
Carefully chosen, ornamental grasses can add many different unique qualities to the garden spaces they occupy. In this lesson you will start to look at specific groups of grasses, identifying the very best ones for different situations and settings.
Grasses are tough and reliable and if done correctly their maintenance can be fairly simple. In this lesson we will cover how and when to plant grasses with detail examples of a number of different species. You will learn about how to create harmonies and contrasts when combining with other plants to allow the grasses to fully express themselves. However, we are dealing with a large and varied group of plants and need to be aware of not only their good points, but also some of the negative aspects they can display. Knowing what can go wrong will enable you to use grasses more effectively.
In the final lesson of the course we will look at how grasses both singly, in uniform masses and as components of mixed perennial planting schemes can be used when designing garden landscapes.
Form, texture and colour are the basis of these comparisons and ornamental grasses are potent in all of these respects. Above all else, form and texture is what sets grasses apart from the other plants in our gardens and when we add to these, the associations that they trigger with various natural landscapes we can start to develop strategies for including them in our planting schemes. In this lesson Michael will look at their use in flower borders, as ground cover, in naturalistic borders and new style perennial meadows.
Learning options
Choose How You Want to Learn
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Expert
£140.00
A guided learning experience with expert support, feedback and recognised outcomes.
Peer
£95.00
Learn alongside others with a collaborative, flexible learning experience.
COURSE TUTOR
Michael King
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Common Questions
Answers to the most common questions about learning with us.
Our online classroom is designed to help you learn from experts in a collaborative, social environment alongside a small group of learners.
Each lesson combines expert-led videos with optional assignments, giving you the opportunity to apply what you’ve learned and share your work with others. You can take part in ongoing discussions, ask questions, exchange feedback, and learn from a community of like-minded people from around the world.
By learning together in a small, supportive group, you benefit not only from expert guidance but also from shared ideas, perspectives, and experiences—helping you stay engaged and retain what you learn.
You can start your course at any time within 12 months of purchase. Once you begin, you’ll have lifetime access, so you can revisit lesson videos and notes whenever you like.
Courses are designed to fit around your schedule, allowing you to learn at your own pace. Each lesson video is typically 30–40 minutes, and we recommend around an hour for each assignment.
Both Peer and Expert options give you full access to the course content, including lesson videos, downloadable notes, assignments, and a collaborative online classroom with up to 20 learners. You’ll also have lifetime access to revisit the material at any time.
The Expert option includes everything in Peer, plus personalised assignment feedback, direct messaging with your expert tutor, and a certificate of completion.
With the Expert option, you can interact directly with your tutor throughout the course. You’ll typically have one week per lesson to ask questions and receive feedback on your assignments, with as much interaction as you need during that time.
Your tutor access begins when you enter the classroom and follows the course schedule (for example, a four-lesson course usually runs over four weeks). If you need more time or support, our team is here to help.
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