Print this page Online Certificate Garden Design and Drawing

The Online Certificate in Garden Design and Drawing is an introductory course aimed a people who wish to start investigating garden design to a professional standard, whether as passionate garden enthusiasts or as those who intend to progress onto further study.

The course is delivered online and you are supported by a personal tutor who will respond to all queries and will give feedback on assignments and projects.

In this Certificate in Garden Design and Drawing course you will learn that a successful garden is both practical and aesthetically pleasing. Garden designers draw on key concepts and principles to create environments that balance the use of the space with their aesthetic appeal. You will explore the balance of function and aesthetics in design, influences on aesthetics and ‘genius loci’ – the idea that some places evoke powerful emotions. You will see that designing is a process of problem solving that involves analysis as well as creativity.

Designing involves visual communication. As you work through the course material you will also start to develop your ability to communicate visually by creating freehand drawings, overlays and perspective drawings. You will also learn about technical drawings and working to scale.

Online Certificate Garden Design and Drawing – course overview

The course is structures around two modules.

Module 1 is divided into five sessions:

• What is Design? You will assess the balance of function and aesthetics in design and consider the ergonomics of garden designing.
• The Design Process, Analysis and the Concept of ‘Genius Loci’. You will learn about the design process, including the importance of analysing a design problem and the creating a comprehensive brief, and explore the concept of ‘genius loci’.
• Design Research and Developing Concepts and Unity in Design. You will consider how to stimulate your imagination so you can produce design concepts and start to examine the principles of garden design – looking at the principle of unity and how to implement these ideas in your work.
• Design Principles. You will explore the importance of scale and proportion, look at some of the historical influences inherent in them and examine how to apply the principles of scale and proportion to gardens. You will also consider the principle of balance and its application in the design of gardens through the organisation of mass and void.
• Rhythm, Focal Points, Groupings and Simplicity. You will explore the function and purpose of rhythm in garden design and the purpose and positioning of focal points. You will consider the value of groupings and examine the concept of simplicity and its relevance to garden design.

For the project you will analyse a garden of your choice by applying the concepts and principles explored in Module 1, and present your analysis in an illustrated report.

Module 2 is in seven sessions.

• Freehand Drawing. You will start to experiment with expressing yourself by using freehand drawing, creating accurate contour drawings.
• Freehand Drawing – Negative Space. Here you to approach freehand drawing from another angle, by considering the ‘negative space’, or background surrounding the positive forms.
• Tonal Drawing. You will consider the effect of light and shade when you are producing an image by learning techniques for shading, creating tonal drawings, practising sighting angles and proportions and finding out about different drawing media
• Sketchbooks. This session encourages you to keep a sketchbook or a series of sketchbooks for training the eye, developing your understanding of scale and proportion, recording gardens and plants, and experimenting with design ideas
• From Drawing to Design. You will consider perspective as a way to improve your drawing skills, learn how to make one-point and two point perspective drawings and freehand ‘overlays’ and look at the ways in which you can create drawings and designs by using abstraction
• Technical Drawing. This allows you to draw a garden and its features accurately and to scale. You will learn to draw plans to scale, practise graphic techniques, lay out a plan drawing and apply text.
• Geometry in Design. This session helps develop your skills in communicating visually. You then take a more detailed look at the use of geometry in design by considering the impact of volume, learning to use geometry to create designs, investigating interlocking shapes, considering mass and void in creating a design and learning to design using a grid.

For the project you will create two different garden designs. These allow you to practise your technical drawing and explore different geometric solutions for your gardens.

Online Certificate Garden Design and Drawing – further course details

There are no formal entry requirements. You will receive guidance on drawing equipment and materials that you will need to buy.

You may also be interested in the more comprehensive Online Diploma in Principles and Practices in Garden Design or the full Online Diploma in Garden Design.

For more information about the Online Certificate in Garden Design and Drawing course, please contact the Course Administrator.