Our two-year Garden Design Program is led by our Australian Director Brent Reid, supported by practising design, horticulture and technical professionals from Australia to ensure you are given the widest possible experience of our industry and the most up-to-date knowledge. Our London colleagues will also bring their unique experience to the course, contributing to the course content, timetable and design experience.
Two ways of learning with us
Our program is delivered at the Royal Botanic Gardens Victoria, Melbourne Gardens in a brand-new teaching facility. Students enjoy the benefit of being at one of Australia’s premier gardens in a classroom that is part of the old Observatory buildings.
You have now the opportunity to study with us remotely in live classrooms and studios. This new option allows students unable to be present in Melbourne to benefit from all of our Garden Design program in real time from anywhere in Australia or New Zealand.
When you choose this option, there will also be an opportunity for you to visit Melbourne at set times through the course and take part in extra events such as the special professional visit days, concentrated into a number of days in order to make best use of your time.
Students choosing this option will need to be available to take part in our regular classroom schedule of 2 days per week and will work to the same time frames as students studying at the Royal Botanic Gardens in Melbourne in person. So you get the same benefits of a professional course studying in real time and graduating alongside your peers with full accreditation from the London College of Garden Design.
PAUL RYAN
ALBERTO CAFFI
Professional Australian skills
It’s important that you learn your skills from professionals working in horticulture and design in Australia and as well as core design and plant skills taught by Australian experts, we provide intensive CAD, business and construction teaching led by practicing professionals so that students can find work with design practices or launch their own successful businesses as soon as they graduate.
Our next course will start in March 2023 and run for 4 semesters across two years on Wednesdays and Thursdays finishing in October 2024. A new 2-year course will start each year. Over 4 semesters you will learn the essential skills to become a professional garden designer and all based at our home in the Royal Botanic Gardens Victoria, Melbourne Gardens.
Further details can be found by downloading the prospectus at the end of this page.
Millie Radeski
A new type of design training
This design-led training is new to Australia and is based on the unrivaled expertise of our UK partners. The course will include the extensive training for which the College is recognised, not only garden design skills but also CAD, horticulture, planting design, business and construction design training.
The course has been written especially for Australia to fulfill an ambition to provide a more intensive and wide-ranging experience for our students over a longer period. In the UK this is fulfilled by several different diploma courses. In Australia our 2-year, 4-semester professional course will be taught by some of the Australian profession’s leading design and horticulture practitioners. The new, longer course will allow us to focus on some specialist subjects in more depth, especially planting design and those areas that reflect Australia’s love for outdoor living.
By studying on our course you will benefit from:
- The experience of Europe’s leading garden design college with Australian horticultural integrity and design expertise.
- Lecturers and Tutors who are all practicing professionals with up to date knowledge and skills.
- High tutor/student ratios with a minimum of 1 tutor to every 10 students in studio classes.
- Intensive training in CAD skills, planting and construction design and business as well as garden and landscape design.
- Specialist lectures scheduled to relate directly to current assessed projects.
- Student membership, ongoing continuous professional development support and access to professional mentoring on graduation.
- Become part of the global LCGD alumni programme.
Professional Partnerships
We are already working towards partnering with recognised Australian industry bodies that will replicate our successful collaborations in the UK where we deliver technical training on their behalf. We will also be working towards accreditation in Australia.
Competition for places in our courses has always been keen and enrolment is open now for our next course starting in March 2023.
Lyndan Brewer
Michelle Kossenas
Skills training that sets us apart from other courses
The London College of Garden Design Melbourne 2-year Garden Design Program includes:
- Conceptual design training that not only includes hand drawing but also a sound understanding and practical experience in CAD skills which are essential for anyone aiming to work in a design practice on graduation.
- Horticultural training, essential for anyone that is new to the profession and building upon knowledge you may already have.
- Construction design training taught by industry experts that will allow you to design projects with confidence.
- Planting design skills, inspired by our UK College’s unique diploma already studied by many experienced professionals including landscape architects from around the world.
- Business skills that will enable you to launch a career in garden design as soon as you graduate.
Our aim is always to deliver professional level training with industry expertise that will allow graduates to go onto successful careers, both in working for existing design offices or to start up their own businesses. Our Garden Design program is accredited by the Society of Garden Designers, the UK’s professional body for garden design as are all our professional diploma courses in the UK.
Upon successful completion of the Garden Design Program you will be awarded a Diploma from the London College of Garden Design in the UK and we are currently reviewing our accreditation in Australia. We are also registered training providers for a number of industry landscape bodies.
If you would like to arrange to meet with our Director, Brent Reid to talk about the course please call us on
+61 (0)423 080 728 or email us at info@lcgd.com.au.
