Learning with Experts

Planting the Piet Oudolf Way

£45 £27 Save 40%
Level: Peer






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Level: Peer

Course overview

Piet Oudolf and Dr Noel Kingsbury take you on an exclusive tour of Piet's family gardens at Hummelo, so you can learn how to plant a garden the Piet Oudolf way and which plants to choose and combine.

Piet will introduce plants and plant combinations, and takes you into his studio to look at planting plans and how the garden design works throughout the year.

You'll learn how to create a Piet Oudolf perennial design for your garden, which plants to choose for form, structure and colour, and how to adapt the Piet Oudolf style for your region.

Choose the Expert option for feedback from Dr Noel Kingsbury on your assignments. Evaluation of assignments will be done by Noel, whose links with gardeners across the world give him a uniquely global perspective.

You'll learn:

  • which plants to use for structure in garden design
  • elements of plants that create structure - seed heads, foliage and plant shapes
  • how to combine plants to use texture and structure for garden design
  • planning your garden design to work through all seasons
  • choosing plants for your region
  • using repetition plants and matrix plants in your garden

The course includes:

  • 4 on-demand video lesson - presented by Piet Oudolf and Dr Noel Kingsbury
  • 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 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 Piet Oudolf planting course:

Every student is different but in general we think the whole course will take around 7 hours 30 minutes to complete including:

  • Video lesson: 1 hour 30 minutes in total
  • Course notes: 30 minutes per lesson
  • Your planting design projects: at least 30 minutes per lesson
  • Interactive classroom time: 15 minutes per lesson
  • Tutor feedback review (Expert level): 15 minutes per lesson

You'll need:

This course includes optional practical assignments - you'll need some photos of plants.

Suitable for all levels of gardener - from beginner to professionals who want to learn how to recreate Piet Oudolf's planting style in their own gardens and designs.

Ready to get started?

Just add the course to your basket above - choose the 'Expert' option for personal feedback from Noel on your Piet Oudolf assignments and questions.

Any questions? Contact us by clicking on the orange speech symbol - we'd love to hear from you.

Watch course trailer

Lesson summary

Plant Structure
With guidance and personal feedback from Noel on this first project you will orientate yourself with plants which have good and distinctive structure: flower heads, seed heads, foliage, or the shape of the plant overall.
Plant Combinations
Having focused on the individual structure of varying plants during the first project you will now start to consider effective combinations of both structure and texture.
Considering Seasonality
Now it is time to plan a seasonal calendar for the plants combinations, considering for how long they hold their good structure, and important consideration in any design.
Plant Suggestions For Your Region
Lastly, a time to focus on the plants most suitable for your region considering: Repeating elements; scatter plants (i.e. plants with a short season of impact, relatively inconspicuous before and after their period of performance); and matrix plants, (i.e. plants which can be used to cover most of the ground in a planting, and act as a backdrop for more prominent species).

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

Piet Oudolf & Noel Kingsbury

Legendary Dutch garden designer, nurseryman and author. Working alongside Dr Kingsbury for his Learning with Expert's courses.

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