Planting plans are a key part of the garden designers cannon and are one of several aspects of our work that separate us out from other design professions. They act as vital documents for the designer, client, plant suppliers and contractor when planning, costing and implementing this crucial part of our creative process. This three day course is a bespoke guide to creating clear, legible and industry recognised planting plans using a range of media and explores the defining principles of these important drawings. This is a sister course to our two other offerings on planting design An Introduction to Designing with Plants and Creating Seasonality and Layering in Planting Schemes. Please refer to our short course homepage for special offers on taking two or more courses.
Planting plans can be hand drawn and we will spend time looking at the various ways in which plants can be accurately represented, sized and spaced using simple drawing instruments. Of course, they can also be generated using computer software and for those wishing to pursue this way of creating planting plans we recommend downloading and following our bespoke digital course Vectorworks for Garden Designers (which will be available from December 2024) at least one month prior to coming on this course. We will be taking you through the creation of planting plans using Vectorworks as a digital option, using the software to simultaneously generate your own palette of graphic plant symbols and your plant schedule (or list of total numbers and sizes of each plant) as you create your plan. Joining us for this course will give you the opportunity to create both a hand drawn and Vectorworks planting plan in the presence of our resident AWB Associates planting design and Vectorworks specialists so you have the opportunity to ask questions and take on face-to-face feedback in the classroom.
In addition to creating accurate professional planting plans, you will learn how to compile a specification for the delivery of plants to your garden, the preparation of ground for different types of planting, the planting process itself and the immediate aftercare of plants. You will leave the course with a digital copy of a standard specification that you can take home and adapt for all your future planting projects. A good specification (in other words a set of detailed written instructions) is vital when describing to others, such as nurseries, your client, their gardener or a landscape contractor, how the garden is to be prepared and the standards of workmanship to be met while implementing your creative vision. You will be shown and given several examples of how planting plans can be created, so you can choose the format that best suits your way of working.
A modicum of plant knowledge is required for this course as it has been created for those who wish to take their existing skills up a notch. A list of what you need to bring will be issued on receipt of a booking, although plenty of paper will be available for you in the studio. You will have special access to the YSGD book library as well as our large format plotter for scanning, saving and printing out your work if you wish. Free tea and coffee will be available through the day in the teaching studio, and we ask that folks bring lunch with them each day or walk to one of the many nearby shops in Ripon to buy lunch.
We are limiting the class size to 12 on this course, to make sure all students get plenty of tutor feedback during practical exercises. We’re anticipating that this will be a popular course, so please book early to avoid disappointment. Payment in full is required to reserve your place on this course. Please refer to our Terms and Conditions here for information on cancellations and refunds.
Before booking on this course please check out our short course home page for our Learn and Save deals on two or more courses – the more you book the more you save!
If you would like to book accommodation nearby, please get in touch and we can send you some recommendations.