A Centre of Excellence for Garden Design

Welcome to the Yorkshire School of Garden Design

Our mission at the Yorkshire School of Garden Design is to deliver professional, accessible, enjoyable and in-depth courses in the heart of Yorkshire. Renowned garden designer Alistair Baldwin spent over twelve years as an academic teaching landscape architecture and garden design and with 25 years under his belt as a practicing designer he has established a forum for the study of all things garden design. Our courses will all be delivered in our bespoke teaching studio above the Alistair W Baldwin design offices in central Ripon.

We believe in nurturing through example and to that end all our courses are delivered by practicing professionals who give our learners behind-the-scenes insights using projects from their own design portfolios along with real-life scenarios and challenges to learn from. Our courses are aimed at budding garden designers and interested keen amateurs with the common goal of sharing the knowledge and experiences we have built up.

We are offering a varied and exciting range of courses to choose from. Our menu of short courses is aimed at those looking to dip their toe into the wonderful world of plants and garden-making, and include courses for leisure as well as career development. The core teaching team is made up of members of Alistair Baldwin’s renowned design practice, who have built up a wealth of experience in designing and delivering projects around the globe.

The YSGD teaching team

YSGD Founder and Principal Tutor Alistair Baldwin believes passionately that students should learn from those who practise what they preach, giving them a genuinely relevant and current learning experience.

Our short courses will be delivered in Alistair bespoke teaching studio, located above his design office, and he has assembled some of the worlds leading experts to support his core team in delivering our unique suite of short courses.

Photo: Eva Nemeth

Alistair Baldwin BA(Hons) DipLA
Founder and Principal Tutor

Alistair Baldwin

Alistair has an international reputation as a garden designer and educator, delivering courses and lectures throughout the UK, Far East and North America. Ranked in the House and Garden Top 50 garden designers, Alistair leads a practice based in North Yorkshire delivering high-spec public and private gardens throughout the UK as well as several public and show gardens in the Far East, his work featuring in many of the leading lifestyle and garden design journals. He has lectured widely in China and North America and has delivered courses internationally on design and graphic communication. He believes passionately in creating a learning environment for students that is rich, engaging, relevant and hands-on.

Alistair spent twelve years teaching landscape and garden design at Leeds Metropolitan University (now Leeds Beckett) where he gained a reputation for nurturing talent, using his own design projects as learning material and sharing first hand experiences from the garden design front line.

Alistair and his team have built up a wealth of experience in delivering rich and well-crafted gardens and students at the Yorkshire School of Garden Design will get a real insight into how they design, communicate and deliver their projects.

Photo: Eva Nemeth

Alistair Baldwin BA(Hons) DipLA
Founder and Principal Tutor

Alistair Baldwin

Alistair has an international reputation as a garden designer and educator, delivering courses and lectures throughout the UK, Far East and North America. Ranked in the House and Garden Top 50 garden designers, Alistair leads a practice based in North Yorkshire delivering high-spec public and private gardens throughout the UK as well as several public and show gardens in the Far East, his work featuring in many of the leading lifestyle and garden design journals. He has lectured widely in China and North America and has delivered courses internationally on design and graphic communication. He believes passionately in creating a learning environment for students that is rich, engaging, relevant and hands-on.

Alistair spent twelve years teaching landscape and garden design at Leeds Metropolitan University (now Leeds Beckett) where he gained a reputation for nurturing talent, using his own design projects as learning material and sharing first hand experiences from the garden design front line.

Alistair and his team have built up a wealth of experience in delivering rich and well-crafted gardens and students at the Yorkshire School of Garden Design will get a real insight into how they design, communicate and deliver their projects.

Charlotte Pennell

Senior Designer

AWB Associates

Charlotte has a background in architecture and came to AWB Associates after a spell at Tom Stuart-Smiths office. She is passionate about design and is working on several large and small gardens around the UK. In her spare time, Charlotte is a talented florist creating stunning floral displays inspired by nature for weddings and events.

Ed Golding

Garden Designer and Project Manager

AWB Associates

Ed is a qualified landscape architect, having graduated from Leeds Beckett in 2019. He joined the practice following graduation and has delivered projects in China and throughout the UK. Ed heads up our teaching in modelling software for garden designers and has created a bespoke online course in Sketchup for Garden Designers, available here.

Andrew Porter

Garden Designer

AWB Associates

Andrew graduated from the Yorkshire School of Garden Design in 2023 and joined the practice to work along side Paul Robinson on the delivery of two large private garden projects in the north of England. Andrew has a prodigious eye for detail and works closely with Paul on planting design across a number of projects.

Paul Robinson

Senior Designer

AWB Associates

Paul brings a wealth of experience in the innovative us of hard materials and planting design to the practice and is our in-house Vectorworks expert. Paul has built up an impressive network of contacts across the European nursery trade, and is a regular visitor to Belgium and the Netherlands sourcing the best plants for our projects. He is currently leading projects across England and in the United States.

Charlotte Pennell

Senior Designer

AWB Associates

Charlotte has a background in architecture and came to AWB Associates after a spell at Tom Stuart-Smiths office. She is passionate about design and is working on several large and small gardens around the UK. In her spare time, Charlotte is a talented florist creating stunning floral displays inspired by nature for weddings and events.

Ed Golding

Garden Designer and Project Manager

AWB Associates

Ed is a qualified landscape architect, having graduated from Leeds Beckett in 2019. He joined the practice following graduation and has delivered projects in China and throughout the UK. Ed heads up our teaching in modelling software for garden designers and has created a bespoke online course in Sketchup for Garden Designers, available here.

Andrew Porter

Garden Designer

AWB Associates

Andrew graduated from the Yorkshire School of Garden Design in 2023 and joined the practice to work along side Paul Robinson on the delivery of two large private garden projects in the north of England. Andrew has a prodigious eye for detail and works closely with Paul on planting design across a number of projects.

Paul Robinson

Senior Designer

AWB Associates

Paul brings a wealth of experience in the innovative us of hard materials and planting design to the practice and is our in-house Vectorworks expert. Paul has built up an impressive network of contacts across the European nursery trade, and is a regular visitor to Belgium and the Netherlands sourcing the best plants for our projects. He is currently leading projects across England and in the United States.