Learning with Experts

Planting Design with Perennials

£45 £27 Save 40%
Level: Peer






What’s the difference between Peer and Expert levels?

Both Peer and Expert levels provide:

  • Video lessons led by an expert tutor
  • Downloadable lesson notes
  • Practice assignments
  • Group learning in a 20-student online classroom
  • Lifetime access to videos, notes, and classroom

The Expert level additionally includes:

  • Personalized feedback and coaching from your tutor
  • Private messaging with your tutor
  • Certificate of completion
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Level: Peer

Course overview

Learn how to design a perennial garden with expert gardener and horticulturalist Dr Noel Kingsbury.

Noel is a long-time collaborator with the renowned garden designer Piet Oudolf. By the end of the course you will have learnt how to make the right plant selections and gain a solid understanding of the Oudolf approach to a perennial garden.

Noel looks at contemporary approaches to using perennials, with a particular focus on naturalistic approaches.

You will explore how to create planting schemes that suit the particular conditions of your garden, covering a wide range of temperate zone climates; for example if your soil is poor and fast draining, Noel will guide you through the basic principles of choosing plants which survive and flourish in these conditions.

Noel will outline how to make successful planting designs which combine structure, a long season of interest and support for bio-diversity and sustainability by reducing or eliminating irrigation and minimizing maintenance.

The course provides a particularly strong theoretical basis, but with plenty of plant variety tables provided for helping you choose plants.

You'll be suited to this course whether you are an enthusiastic amateur, or a landscaper or designer looking to hone your skills in the particular planting area of perennials. It's a unique opportunity to get personal tuition from a world expert in perennial planting.

What are perennials?

Perennial plants are plants that live for more than 2 years (unlike annual plants which die annually).

Perennials have become the most popular garden plants, not just because of their beauty and the ease with which they can be grown, but because they are at the heart of a planting style which is more naturalistic, more sustainable, and often lower maintenance than many traditional garden styles.

This course aims at helping you understand the connections between perennials as wild plants in their natural environment, and as garden plants, helping you select the right plants for your situation. We look at their long-term performance, and how they can be used alongside other garden plants.

You'll learn:

  • about the botany of perennial plants
  • how to use perennial plants in garden design
  • matching perennials to planting environments - including shaded, dry and damp positions
  • using perennial flowers and foliage throughout the seasons

The course includes:

  • 4 on-demand video lessons - presented by Dr Noel Kingsbury
  • lifetime access to the video, notes and interactive class
  • flexible classes - join and learn when and where you like
  • downloadable lesson notes
  • practical (optional) photography assignments
  • access on your mobile, PC, Mac or laptop
  • small interactive online classroom chat online to students from around the world

Time to complete this perennial gardening course:

Every student is different but in general we think the whole course will take around 14 hours 20 minutes to complete including:

  • Video lesson: 1 hour 20 minutes in total
  • Lesson notes: 30 minutes per lesson
  • Assignment: at least 2 hours per lesson
  • Interactive classroom time: 15 minutes per lesson
  • Tutor feedback review (Expert level): 15 minutes per assignment

Ready to get started?

Just add the course to your basket above - choose the 'Expert' option for personal feedback from Noel on your perennial plans.

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

Watch course trailer

Lesson summary

Understanding Perennials
In the first lesson you will learn to take the 'rabbit's eye view', getting down to observe plants at ground level, and even below ground. Noel takes you through the fundamentals of life: perennial lifecycles, longevity and reproduction. You will also take part in a thought experiment, which enables you to get a deep understanding of how perennials survive and colonise. Throughout the first week Noel peppers the lecture with examples including many from the work he’s done with acclaimed planting designer and horticultural writer Piet Oudolf.
Perennials in Planting Design
In this lesson Noel looks at various types of perennial planting, and some of the basic issues in selecting and combining plants – the basics of how to make an amazing garden! Topics include the traditional perennial border, ratios of structural planting, cottage garden perennials and foliage plants. Again many examples are given in lecture two – and students are encouraged to ask any questions in the classroom for plant recommendations to suit their own environment.
Perennials in Their Habitat
During this lecture you will look at three situations where careful matching of plant and place is needed: dry environments, wet ones, and shade. Some gardens are dominated by these problems, and many have a small area where careful plant selection is needed. A more positive approach is to suggest that these special environments create opportunities for plants with particular needs or tolerances.
Perennials Through The Year
Lastly you will learn about some examples of perennials which make an especially strong impact during particular seasons as a way of exploring some basic principles of what looks good when and why. We also look at some of the less obvious ways in which perennials can contribute to seasonal beauty. The final lecture and assignment empowers the student to see the world differently, and you should come away being able to put into practice most of the theory you have learnt throughout the course.

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
Portrait of Dr Noel Kingsbury

meet the expert

Dr Noel Kingsbury

Renowned garden designer and author known for naturalistic planting and collaborating with Piet Oudolf.

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.

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.

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Awards and accreditations