Learning with Experts

Professional Planting Design

£85 £51 Save 40%
Level: Peer






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Level: Peer

Course overview

Hilary Thomas and Neill Ludmon teach you how how to create a professional planting design for all types of gardens.

Choose the Expert option for personal feedback from Neill on your designs

It's all too easy to have a garden full of wonderful plants that feels more like a restless collection than a well thought-out design. Discover how to plant a garden for all seasons, combining plant structures, colours and forms.

Learn how to select plants for their visual, aesthetic and structural properties, how to assess your site conditions, and how to create a planting plan on paper.

Explore different styles of garden such as naturalist, minimalist and cottage garden, and get tips on things to consider if you’re setting up in business.

This course is run by Hilary Thomas, and your assignments will be marked by Neill Ludmon.

You'll learn:

  • how to choose and use plants
  • understanding visual qualities of plants
  • creating planting schemes with lasting structure
  • selecting the right plants for the right place
  • how to create a planting plan

Suitable for students of all levels - from gardeners just getting started to professionals looking to learn more about using plants in garden design.

The course includes:

  • 8 on-demand video lessons - presented by Hilary Thomas
  • lifetime access to the videos, notes and interactive class
  • flexible classes - join and learn when and where you like
  • downloadable lesson notes
  • practical planting design assignments (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 28 hours to complete including:

  • Video lessons: 4 hours in total
  • Course notes: 30 minutes per lesson
  • Your planting design assignments: at least 2 hours per lesson
  • Interactive classroom time: 15 minutes per lesson
  • Tutor feedback review (Expert level): 15 minutes per lesson

Ready to get started?

Just add the course to your basket above - choose the 'Expert' option for personal feedback from Neill on your planting design 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.

Lesson summary

Form, Texture & Habit
Learn how the size, shape and surface of leaves influences our perception of plants.
Colour and Design Principles
Understand how colours influence the mood of a garden and how we perceive the dimensions of a space.
The Role of Plants in The Planting Scheme
Explore the role of structural planting and focal point plants in a planting scheme.
Seasonal Colour & Excitement
Consider the different techniques for utilising seasonal colour and excitement, from seasonal bedding plants to the more naturalist meadow style.
Considering Plant Selection
Explore all the factors that will determine the success of your planting scheme, and how to garden ecologically.
Drawing Up the Planting Plan
Learn how to create a three-dimensional planting plan.
Planting Styles
Assess the different ways that plants can be used to create a particular style or theme, such as cottage garden, modern or Mediterranean style planting.
Plant Schedule
Understand how to prepare a plant schedule, and why you need to consider suppliers, maintenance, and your neighbours.

Choose how you want to learn

Expert-level

Develop your learning further with marked assignments and personal tuition:

  • Start the course whenever you like
  • Tutor access for personalised assignment feedback & coaching
  • Certificate of completion and CPD learning hours
  • Online classroom with up to 20 classmates
  • Lessons with expert videos & notes
  • Group chat & direct message with tutor & classmates
  • Lifetime access to videos, notes & classroom

Peer-level

Get the most from shared knowledge and community study:

  • 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

Neill Ludmon

Former garden design teacher at Capel Manor College and freelance planting designer and workshop leader.

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 options?

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.

How often can I speak with the Expert?

If you opt for the Expert version of your course, the time you have to interact with your tutor is limited to course length. You will have one week per lesson to chat to your tutor and to have your assignments marked, and during this period you can ask them as many questions as you would like.

To find out the length of each course, head to the product page and look at the Course outline to see how many lessons it contains. e.g. a four lesson course assumes that you will have completed the assignments within four weeks.

Your tutor interaction period will start as soon as you enter the classroom. If you find that you are struggling to complete the assignments in the allocated time or you wish to put this function on hold, just get in contact with one of the team via the support button and we will help you out.

Support and full FAQs

If you need any help with a course, be it one you’ve started already, or one you are looking to purchase, please don’t hesitate to reach out to our Support email address, or view the full FAQ’s here.

You can also use the orange speech bubble on your page to start a conversation with us.

For privacy or data questions, please contact us here.

Awards and accreditations