If you’re interested in gardens and garden design, this three-day course will provide an invaluable introduction. The emphasis throughout will be on what makes gardens successful, and as well as understanding some of the key concepts and ideas underpinning both traditional and contemporary garden design, you will be experimenting with ideas for real and hypothetical garden spaces.

Dates: Wednesday, Thursday, Friday June 2009 – exact dates to be confirmed.

Time: 10am to 5pm Wednesday (an hour break for lunch), Thursday 9 am to 6 pm (half hour break for lunch) on Friday 10 am until 4.30 pm (an hour break for lunch).

Venue: University College Falmouth Garden Design Studio, Tremough Campus, Penryn, Cornwall TR10 9EZ.

Price: £255 (includes transport to gardens and entrance fees excludes lunch)

As well as short lectures, workshop exercises and discussion groups, there will be visits to some of Cornwall’s most beautiful gardens some famous and some surprising ones you may not know — where the layout and content of these established spaces will be explained in design terms. The course will also show you how to develop your own ideas, how to apply the design principles you have learned and how to communicate your design intentions to suppliers, builders, specialists and contractors. We will also briefly discuss budget estimating and realistic construction costs. You will be shown a wide range of ideas which underpin gardens. Whether you’re interested in pursuing a career in garden design or simply want to gain the skills and confidence to tackle to your own garden space, this course will be both informative and fun.

The course will be led by Richard Sneesby – a leading light in the world of garden design. A bestseller (co-author of The Garden Maker’s Manual – Conran Octopus 2005) and two successful television series behind him, celebrity gardeners and top people at the Royal Horticultural Society amongst his friends, the accolade of an award-winning Chelsea Flower Show garden to his name… and a unique, groundbreaking degree course at University College Falmouth. Welcome to Garden Design 21st-century style.

Richard will be joined by Matt James who joined University College Falmouth as a Lecturer on the BA (Hons) Garden Design course at the end of 2007. He moved from Putney, West London bringing his own garden design business specialising in urban and city gardens. Matt trained at Merrist Wood College in Guildford and was awarded his degree at Writtle College, a partner institution of the University of Essex. Whilst lecturing in Horticulture at NESCOT College in Surrey, Channel 4 spotted his enthusiasm for horticulture and garden design.

Matt is best known today as the face of ‘The City Gardener’, which aired on our television screens from 2002 to 2005. He has also spent a year in the USA filming two series about urban garden design, and most recently he authored a documentary for Channel 4’s The Insider programmer about the unacceptable loss of green space in our towns and cities.

Matt has won a number of awards for his work including Londoner of the Year for setting up a circuit of farmers markets in South London and Surrey, and most recently two awards for garden designs in California at the CCLA Annual State-wide Trophy Awards; 1st place for a modern Mediterranean retreat in 2006, and in 2007 the Outstanding Achievement Award for a contemporary tropical garden in Venice, CA.

Matt is the author of three books including the City Garden Bible. He has written for numerous publications about gardening and garden design, including The Daily Telegraph, The Sunday Times, Garden Life and The Garden. He is currently working on his fourth book.

Day One

The three most important things about gardens are; how they are used, or could be used; how they work at different times of the day and through the seasons; and how to make the most from your space (which could be very small). The first day will involve some short lectures to illustrate points, provide ideas and precedents and provoke discussion. We will then do some workshop exercises to explore design ideas. At this stage it is will be possible to include particular issues from your own experience which you would like to know more about.

Day Two

The second day will be based outside, within Cornish gardens. Here we can explore a range of successful design precedents, aspects of three-dimensional design, how we use gardens, use of materials, and planting. Most importantly the layout and content of these gardens will be explained in design terms allowing connections to be made to other gardens. We will be visiting a range of gardens from large to small, but with an emphasis on plants, planting design and planting composition because this is the area most difficult to deal with in the design studio. The timing of the course allows plants to be seen at their best

The selected gardens are:

* Lamorran House, situated on the Roseland Peninsula with extensive views of St Anthony’s Head, the gardens enjoy a favoured microclimate. The garden was conceived and designed as a whole and constructed in three stages. The design for the garden has been influenced by a blend of Japanese and Mediterranean gardens. An intimate garden with water ever-present both as a backdrop to the garden and running water featured in the many pools and streams, temples and archways. Emphasis on Southern Hemisphere plants and sub-tropical vegetation.

* Caervallack Garden is the result of collaboration between the artist Louise McClary and landscape architect Matt Robinson. Caervallack is a wonderful and intriguing combination of Louise’s flowering herbaceous borders and Matt’s architectural creations. Tucked away on the sheltered banks of the Helford River it is an unusual and delicious discovery. Discovering similarities between painting and gardening, the undulating lines that flow through her garden are suggestive of the shapes that now fill Louise’s haunting canvasses. An ‘English’ garden arranged into rooms. Flowing herbaceous borders with many varieties of roses. Contemporary architecture including new cob walls, water features and unique 54ft timber and wire covered bridge. Walled orchard, vegetable garden and wild 2-acre field.

* Potager is a new organic garden emerging from an old nursery near the Helford Estuary. Potager aims to demonstrate ideas of sustainability through gardening philosophy. Restored glasshouses and workshops are devoted to permaculture, propagation, wood and metal craft. The garden provides a relaxed environment with an informal mix of herbaceous planting, accentuated with vegetables and fruit. Home-made cooking in the glass house café, hammocks, games and sculpture make Potager a friendly and peaceful retreat.

Day Three

The third day will involve designing gardens. These can be small, hypothetical spaces, show gardens, small public gardens or private gardens, including your own garden. You will explore where to gain ideas, how to apply the design principles you have learned and how to communicate your design intentions to suppliers, builders, specialists and garden contractors. We will also briefly discuss budget estimating and realistic construction costs.

Although some of the sessions will involve playing with design ideas on paper, do be reassured that you do not have to be able to draw. We will give you a range of ways to express ideas.

For more information and a booking form please call Business Relations on 01326370444 or email business@falmouth.ac.uk

Source: Falmouth.ac.uk