Conservation of Historic Gardens

£45 £36 Save 20%
Level: Peer






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Level: Peer

Course overview

Dr Audrey Timm specialises in garden conservation, and has international experience in ornamental horticulture. Through this course, Audrey shares with you her knowledge and enthusiasm for conserving our historic gardens.

By the end of the course you will have an understanding of the many layers of significance of historic gardens around the world, and the value that conserving these has to us, and future generations.

Garden style is defined by a relationship between fashion and function. Influenced by politics, art and socio-economic trends, historic gardens provide us with opportunities for simple recreation or complex education from which we can learn about past cultures, horticultural techniques and patterns of life. Historic gardens are not living museums; they are enriched and challenged by change. Understanding the origin and influence of these changes, and recognising our capacity and responsibility to sensitively manage change, is the essence of conservation.

In this course Audrey will explain why conservation is relevant to you, locally and globally. You will learn how to research a site, using formal and informal sources. This will enable you to write a detailed statement of significance, which is essential to articulating why a site deserves to be conserved.

You will learn about elements of change, how these influence or threaten gardens, and how we can proactively respond. Audrey will guide you through the legislation that governs protection of heritage assets, and introduce you to ways in which you, as a professional or an enthusiastic amateur, can become more actively involved in conservation.

You'll learn:

  • why garden conservation is important
  • techniques to research garden history
  • managing change in a garden
  • how to become more involved in conservation of gardens

The course includes:

  • 4 on-demand video lessons - presented by Dr Audrey Timm
  • lifetime access to the videos, notes and interactive class
  • flexible classes - join and learn when and where you like
  • downloadable lesson notes
  • practical (optional) historic garden research and conservation projects
  • 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 12 hours 45 minutes to complete including:

  • Video lessons: 2 hours 45 minutes in total
  • Course notes: 30 minutes per lesson
  • Your planting design projects: at least 2 hours per lesson

You'll need:

You don't need any special equipment but your assignments will be based around historic or heritage garden research.

This course is suitable for all students, but it will be particularly interesting to students of garden history or heritage landscape professionals.

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Watch course trailer

Lesson summary

The Ethos of Conservation
In the first lesson you will learn about conservation philosophy, exploring the concepts of restoration, re-creation, and replicas. In this first week, Audrey walks you through examples to illustrate what historic gardens can teach us about society and culture, horticultural techniques, and design trends. You will learn about the events that have influenced and shaped the development of garden conservation in different countries. To highlight the global enthusiasm and commitment to conservation, Audrey introduces you to individuals, groups and organisations that advocate and champion the cause of conservation of historic gardens.
Researching a Heritage Site
The second lesson teaches you how to research an historic garden. You will learn where to look for snippets of information, and how to piece the story together. Studying old maps and adapting modern techniques, Audrey describes curious findings and happenstances that have enabled lost gardens to come back to life. You will be shown examples to illustrate useful resources, methods and strategies, and hear about how this research has shaped conservation activities.
Writing a Statement of Significance
In the third lesson you will hear about the reasons why a site may have conservation merit. Audrey will describe how different countries define heritage values, outlining similarities and varying cultural interpretations. You will learn how to prepare a Statement of Significance which articulates why a heritage site is worthy of conservation, and underpins how it should be managed, will be introduced to global, national and local legislation that guides conservation imperatives, and learn about the value of a Statement of Significance in responding to regulatory issues. Audrey will briefly present examples of more detailed heritage statements, such as Conservation Management Plans, Heritage Landscape Surveys, and Historic Landscape Analyses, and explain how they all rely on a clear understanding of why the site has heritage significance.
Managing Change
In the final lesson, Audrey will describe the forms of change that threaten historic gardens. You will learn how climate change is likely to affect planted and structural elements of a garden. Audrey will lead you through examples of the threat of development to heritage sites, and show how compromise may be reached. You will learn strategies to adapt to natural senescence, replacing plants while maintaining the heritage significance. And all gardens need to adapt to changing techniques and improvements. Audrey will show how this can be sensitively achieved. And finally, you will learn how to become more actively involved in conservation advocacy and practice, and find out what formal and informal support and funding are available to you.

Get the most from peer knowledge

  • Start course whenever you like
  • Practise what you learn with your peers
  • Online classroom with up to 20 classmates
  • Lessons with videos & notes
  • Course assignments
  • Group chat & direct message classmates
  • Lifetime access to videos, notes & classroom

meet the expert

Dr Audrey Timm

Global horticultural expert shaping green cities, sustainability, and historic garden conservation.

Read more

Why choose Learning with Experts?

Start whenever it suits you, and immerse yourself in motivational lesson tutorials with expert guidance.
Enhance your learning and personal growth with lesson assignments. Each course includes an optional assignment at the end of every lesson.
Drop a friendly message or respond to your assignment feedback. Our world-class experts are just a click away, ready to help you!
Stay informed about your own progress and those of your peers, and take joy in celebrating achievements along the way.
Chat and share ideas with passionate communities of learners from around the world.

Frequently asked questions

What’s the difference between PEER and EXPERT levels?

At Peer and Expert level, you get access to the same core content and features:

  • Video lesson tutorials led by your expert tutor
  • Downloadable lesson notes
  • Option to practise what you learn with lesson assignments
  • Group learning within an online interactive classroom of up to 20 classmates
  • Lifetime access to videos, notes and classroom

If you choose Expert level, you get all of the above plus the following:

  • Personalised assignment feedback and coaching from your expert tutor
  • Opportunity to interact with your expert tutor through a private messaging system
  • Certificate of completion.
What is an online classroom?

Our online classroom has been developed to allow you to learn from our experts in a sociable environment alongside up to 20 other students. After each video tutorial led by your expert, you will be encouraged to practice what you have learned with optional assignments - these can be seen by the other students in your class, who are free to share their own thoughts and questions with you.

You will be encouraged to take part in an ongoing class discussion where you can discuss ideas, post images or work, and comment on each other’s assignments. It’s a great way to learn from other like-minded people who share your passion from all over the world.

This means not only do you benefit from people who are outstanding in their field, but also from a close-knit group of like-minded people whom you can learn alongside. Group learning has shown to greatly improve not just the experience of studying, but also how well you retain the knowledge, and we have built our classroom experience around this fact.
When can I start my course and how long will it take?

You can start your course any time within 12 months after receipt of your purchase confirmation email. Once you start, you’ll have lifetime access — meaning you can revisit the lesson videos and notes whenever you want.

Our courses are designed so that you can study at your own pace, some prefer to binge learn while others like to spread their studying over a longer period of time - it’s completely up to you. To give you a rough time frame, each lesson video is approximately 30-40 minutes long, and we recommend that you spend around an hour on each assignment.
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