Course overview

Learn about the history of garden design - from ancient Egyptian gardens to modern urban gardens, with garden historian Dr Toby Musgrave.

Ornamental gardens are complex, three-dimensional works of art, and since the first garden was made in Ancient Egypt over 4,300 years ago they have acted as cultural barometers.

Down the years and across continents, every civilisation and nation has developed its own garden styles. These styles have evolved in tune with changes in the cultural, artistic, social, economic, technological and political landscapes.

We'll look at gardens throughout history from the courtyards of Roman villas to sensuous paradises of the Islamic world; from the stylized nature of Japanese gardens, through to the Baroque opulence of Versailles to Arts and Crafts designs; cottage garden artisanship to the 21st century functionality of Californian Modern garden; including formal gardens and pleasure gardens. We'll also cover some of the most famous garden and landscape designers including Capability Brown.

Garden art and culture have always been interactive - and this course will give you an insight into the role gardens perform in art, culture and purpose, and explain how the garden style impacted the cultural spectrum, both nationally and on a global level.

The study of garden history includes the artistic analysis of individual garden styles, which reveal design principles and aesthetics. Garden form will be deconstructed to display the style’s constituent elements, their configuration and the planting.

You'll learn:

the development of the first designed gardens
different garden styles and their inspiration
the impact of art, culture and politics on garden designs
famous landscape designs and garden designers including Capability Brown
modernism and post-modernism garden designs

The course includes:

4 on-demand video lessons - presented by Dr Toby Musgrave
lifetime access to the videos, notes and interactive class
flexible classes - join and learn when and where you like
downloadable lesson notes
practical garden history projects (with feedback available from Toby)
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 History of Garden Design course:

Every student is different but in general we think the whole course will take around 10 hours 5 minutes to complete including:

Video lessons: 2 hours 5 minutes in total
Course notes: 30 minutes per lesson
Your garden designing projects: at least 1 hour 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 any special equipment, but you will be looking at garden designs through history and analysing their impact and significance. The course is suitable for gardeners at all levels - from new gardeners to professionals who want to learn more about the history of garden design.

Ready to get started?

Just add the course to your basket above - choose the 'Expert' option for personal feedback from Toby on your garden history 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.

Watch course trailer

Lesson summary

Of the Ancients and the East

In this lesson we will explore the earliest gardens made. In the West we will look at the first garden-making culture, the Egyptians, the origins of paradise in Mesopotamia before examining the gardens of Greece and Rome.

Man, God and the Garden

In this lesson we will explore what happened in the aftermath of the collapse of the Roman Empire in 476. The emergence of the Islamic garden, the European medieval garden, and the rediscovery of the Classics and the development of the Renaissance garden from its genesis in Italy and its spread across Europe.

Turning the Wheel of Fashion

In this lesson we will explore how the wheel of fashion takes a full revolution in a century-and-a-half as we explore the contrasts between nature dominated by man in the Baroque garden, the more-natural-than-nature English Landscape Garden and the artistic Picturesque and Gardenesque.

Art, Craft, Nature and Modernism.

In this the last lesson we will examine the diversity of the 19th century garden, explore the controversy of the Battle of Styles and find a solution before moving on to the 20th century, Modernism and post-Modernism.