Hi Clarice,

I too have heard good things about the English Gardening School!

I completed my own garden design diploma with Learning Curve
(http://www.learningcurve-uk.com) and I found the course extremely
comprehensive. The tutor also spent a lot of time helping me to develop
my individual design skills and develop my portfolio. I enjoyed the
course throughly but didn't realise how important all this attention to
detail was until later when I set up my own business and began making
presentations to clients.

Whichever course you choose I'd recommend that you check carefully on
the tutorial support offered. I think this is critical in distance
learning. With Learning Curve, I could contact my tutor any time, just
to bounce ideas around or discuss general issues. It would have felt
quite isolated, I think, if I didn't have this sort of support.

One thing my tutor recommended, and I think is really good advice, is
to get as much practical experience as possible. It's a great way of
building your confidence. You could shadow an established designer or
obtain experience at a local botanic/rhs/national trust garden. Home
study can be a good practical option but it's not the same as being
able to watch an expert in action and meet lots of clients
face-to-face! A lot of RHS gardens offer useful one-day courses too.
(http://www.rhs.org.uk)

Good luck!


Lizzie

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Clarice wrote:
Completely new to news groups, full stop, so I hope I get this right
and am posting in the right place!

I am very keen to train as a garden designer, but because or
work/family commitments I can't attend college. I've recently had an
awful experience with a correspondence college (The Garden Design
Institute) - the course material was awful, the tuition almost
non-existent and it turns out its not really an institute at all in the
sense I thought ... well I won't bore you with the gory details.
Suffice it to say my confidence has plummeted to an all time low and
I'm a few hundred quid poorer. I was going to give up on the idea all
together but hubbie has convinced me to have another go, since this has
been my dream for so many years now.

We can't afford to spend money on another bum course, so I was hoping
someone could recommend one from personal experience? I need a good
college with excellent tuition and, preferably, not costing too much
... tall order, I know... here's hoping...