Andy McIndoe

Shrubs

£125.00
£125.00
Tax included.
Level:



RHS Chelsea Gold Medal winner Andy McIndoe teaches you how to choose, plant, prune and combine shrubs — the backbone of any planting design — to create year-round structure, colour, fragrance and beauty in your garden.

You'll learn how to select the right shrub for every situation, how and when to prune, how to use foliage as the foundation of good planting, and how to create simple but effective combinations for real designer impact. Andy covers flowering and evergreen shrubs, fragrant varieties, and shrubs for foliage, colour and form.

Suitable for all levels, from new gardeners to professionals. Includes 4 on-demand video lessons, lifetime access, downloadable notes, practical shrub projects with optional tutor feedback, and a small interactive online classroom.

RHS Chelsea Gold Medal winner and expert gardener Andy McIndoe teaches you how to choose the right shrub for your garden and how to maintain, prune and combine other plants with shrubs.

Shrubs are the backbone of planting design. They provide essential structure, beauty and colour from foliage and flowers, texture and a great variety of shape and form in the planting palette.

Shrubs are tipped to be the big thing this year in garden design - particularly the use of fragrant shrubs. Shrubs play a key role in garden designs throughout the seasons, including flowering shrubs and evergreen shrubs.

This course delivers essential advice on selection of the right shrubs for any garden design situation. You will also learn the practical aspects - the simple secrets of pruning, and how to plant and care for your shrubs for best results. Foliage is the foundation of good planting and shrubs deliver leafy colour in both deciduous and evergreen form.

Learn how to use shrubs to create simple but effective planting combinations for designer impact in any garden. If you select wisely the shrubs in your garden can create all-year round interest year after year.

This course will help you choose the right shrub for every situation in your garden, and at any time of the year.

You'll learn:

  • how to choose shrubs for your garden and planting designs
  • how and when to prune shrubs
  • combining shrubs with other plants
  • choosing shrubs for fragrance, foliage, flowers, colour or structure
  • planting shrubs

This gardening course will empower you to choose the right shrubs for your planting design. It will also ignite passion for an area of planting that is rarely used to its optimum potential.

The course includes:

  • 4 on-demand video lessons - presented by Andy McIndoe
  • lifetime access to the videos, notes and interactive class
  • flexible classes - join and learn when and where you like
  • downloadable lesson notes
  • practical shrub related 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 shrubs course:

Every student is different but in general we think the whole course will take around 13 hours 20 minutes to complete including:

  • Video lessons: 1 hours 20 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 don't need special equipment, but you will be planning which shrubs you could use in various garden situations.

This course is suitable for gardeners at all levels - from people new to gardening to professional gardeners who are keen to understand more about the use of shrubs.

Ready to get started?

Just add the course to your basket above - choose the 'Expert' option for personal feedback from Andy on your garden shrubs and garden designs.

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.

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Learn on demand, at your own pace
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Lessons

What You’ll Learn

Explore the lessons and topics covered across the course.

How to select the right shrub for a situation and a guide to buying the best plants. Giving your shrubs the best possible start in your garden; how and when to plant them.
How and when to prune flowering and foliage shrubs to control shape, size, foliage quality and flowering. Feeding your shrubs: how, when and why.
The importance of shrubs for structure in gardens of all sizes. Maintaining a colour scheme with foliage throughout the year and creating exciting planting combinations.
A pick of the best shrubs that will work hard in your garden to deliver colour, texture and form in every situation, including sun, shade, clay, chalk and in pots and containers.
Learning options

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Expert
£125.00

A guided learning experience with expert support, feedback and recognised outcomes.

  • Expert Assignment Feedback
  • Private Tutor Messaging
  • Certificate & CPD Hours
  • On-demand Lessons Videos & Notes
  • Collaborative Classroom Chat
  • Message Classmates Directly
  • Small Classroom Size
  • Lifetime Access
Peer
£45.00

Learn alongside others with a collaborative, flexible learning experience.

  • On-demand Lessons Videos & Notes
  • Collaborative Classroom Chat
  • Message Classmates Directly
  • Small Classroom Size
  • Lifetime Access
COURSE TUTOR

Andy McIndoe

Andy McIndoe is our Chief Blogger, and teaches five courses on the site. Andy has over thirty years experience as a practical horticulturist and consultant. He has designed and advised on gardens of all sizes and was responsible for the Hillier Gold Medal winning exhibit at the Royal Horticultural Society’s Chelsea Flower for 25 years.

A regular contributor to magazines, newspapers and BBC Radio, Andy lectures widely at home and abroad. Special interests include hardy shrubs, trees, herbaceous perennials, flower bulbs, wildlife and garden design; he has authored books on all of these subjects.
A keen gardener, Andy and his wife Ros have a two-acre garden in Hampshire, U.K., that is open to groups by appointment. Started from scratch fifteen years ago, the garden is naturalistic in style, with an extensive wildflower meadow and informal planting. The emphasis is on foliage to provide colour and texture.

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SUCCESS

What Our Learners Achieve

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CPD Learning Hours

Earn recognised CPD hours through expert-led courses designed to support your ongoing professional development.
Benefits

Why Choose Us

The advantages of Learning with Experts and a supportive community.

Learn on Demand

Start whenever it suits you, and immerse yourself in motivational lesson tutorials with expert guidance.

Practice what you learn

Enhance your learning and personal growth with lesson assignments. Each course includes an optional assignment at the end of every lesson.

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Be part of a community

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Reviews

What Learners Say

Genuine feedback and experiences from learners.
5.00

“It is extremely beneficial to have feedback on your own understanding of the topics and to have input on the detail required in an answer. Learning with Experts has been a really good experience.”

Bronwyn
5.00

“Outstanding content - I have gone back into the course videos many times and had many hours worth of incredible insight even before doing the assignments, which have forced me to really think about the experts' guidance.”

David
5.00

“The course has given me lots of tips and ideas. It was helpful being able to speak to others in the class about assignments and the feedback from the expert was very inspiring and has given me the confidence to try new things in my own garden.”

Helen
5.00

“I would not hesitate to recommend Learning with Experts for the RHS Level 2 Certificate. They provided thorough, comprehensive study materials alongside each individual video lesson presented by highly regarded experts in the field of horticulture, who are also engaging communicators."

Amanda
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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.

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