Garden Design Courses for Western Australian Students
Studying garden design from WA — and why more Perth students are choosing to study online.
Western Australia has one of the most distinctive garden design cultures in the country. The Mediterranean climate, the extraordinary native flora, the long outdoor living season, these are not just conditions to work around. They are the conditions that make garden design here genuinely exciting.
And yet, for people in WA who want to study garden design at a serious, professional level, the options have become increasingly limited.
This article is for Western Australians who are thinking seriously about training as a garden designer and wondering what the right path forward actually looks like.
The Training Gap in Western Australia
Across most of Australia, a Diploma of Landscape Design, the standard qualification for entering professional practice, is offered by TAFE colleges in New South Wales, South Australia, Tasmania, Victoria and Queensland.
In Western Australia, the picture is quite different. North Metropolitan TAFE offers courses in landscape construction. South Metropolitan TAFE has offered a Certificate IV in Landscape Design, which is one level below diploma standard. A Diploma of Landscape Design, equivalent to what is available in other states, is not currently offered by a WA TAFE at the level required to step into professional design practice.
Some national online providers list the Diploma of Landscape Design as available to Perth students, but these are typically work-based traineeship models, structured around on-the-job competency sign-off rather than genuine design education.
For someone who wants to actually learn how to design — how to think spatially, how to work with plants and place, how to develop a design voice and present work to clients — there is currently no in-person option in WA that provides that level of training.
This is the gap that many WA students are navigating.
What a Serious Garden Design Education Actually Looks Like
There is a meaningful difference between a landscape design qualification and a professional design education.
A qualification gives you competency sign-off across a set of units. A design education gives you the ability to see — to analyse a site, understand a client, develop a concept and translate it into something built and beautiful.
The best garden design programs are studio-led. They involve real briefs, real feedback, design crits, planting studies, drawing practice and exposure to working professionals. They develop judgment alongside technique.
This is the model that the London College of Garden Design has built its reputation on, both in the UK and here in Australia.
LCGD Australia: A Different Kind of Program
The LCGD Australia Garden Design Diploma is a two-year, four-semester program delivered in partnership with Europe's leading garden design college and based at the Royal Botanic Gardens Victoria in Melbourne.
The LCGD Australia Garden Design Diploma sits outside the vocational training system entirely. It is a professionally accredited design education — accredited by the Society of Garden Designers (UK) — taught by practising designers, horticulturists and construction professionals who are active in the industry today.
The program covers:
Garden design principles and spatial thinking
Planting design and horticultural science
Site analysis and design process
Construction knowledge and technical documentation
CAD and digital presentation skills
Business and practice management
Real studio projects with professional feedback
Students graduate with a complete, industry-ready portfolio — the foundation of a professional practice.
How Online Study Works for WA Students
Every class at LCGD runs live, twice a week, on Melbourne time. Online students join the same sessions as students in the studio — same lectures, same design briefs, same tutor feedback, same cohort.
This is not pre-recorded content or self-paced modules. It is a real-time studio environment, streamed directly into your home.
For WA students, the time difference is two hours ahead of Melbourne during AEDT. Classes are typically delivered on weekdays during school hours — workable for most students, and something our WA cohort plans around.
Field trips and site visits are streamed live where possible, and WA students are welcome to travel to Melbourne for selected events, the Melbourne International Flower & Garden Show, or studio days if they choose to.
You study alongside a national cohort, bring your own WA landscape as a design resource, and graduate together — regardless of where in Australia or New Zealand you are based.
Designing for Western Australia: A Rich and Distinct Context
One of the most compelling reasons to pursue garden design in WA is the design context itself.
Western Australia's native flora is extraordinary in its diversity with a remarkable range of Proteaceae, Myrtaceae, Verticordia, Kangaroo Paws and hundreds of endemic species that are unlike anything found in the eastern states. Designing with this palette demands both botanical literacy and genuine design sensibility.
The climate, hot, dry summers, mild wet winters, high UV, variable soils, requires a different approach to planting design than the temperate southeast. Water-wise design, fire-aware planting, coastal conditions, and the management of heat and shade are not peripheral concerns in WA. They are central to almost every project.
At LCGD, the design curriculum is taught in a way that applies across Australian conditions. Students are encouraged to work with their own sites and local plant palettes from early in the program. A WA student designing a garden in the Swan Coastal Plain will bring a completely different set of conditions to the studio — and that specificity is considered a strength, not a limitation.
Who Studies with LCGD from Western Australia
Our WA students tend to share a few things in common.
Many are career changers — people who have spent years in a different industry and are now ready to pursue something that connects their love of gardens and plants with a genuine professional pathway. Teaching, healthcare, architecture, marketing, horticulture and the trades are all well represented.
Some are already working adjacent to the garden industry — as nursery staff, as horticulturists, as landscape labourers — and want to step into the design side of the profession.
Others are simply passionate about gardens and have reached the point where a weekend hobby isn't enough. They want to design at a professional level, and they want to be trained properly to do it.
What most WA students have in common is that they have looked at what is available locally and found that it doesn't match what they are looking for.
Is This the Right Program for You?
LCGD is designed for people who are serious about making garden design a career. It is a real commitment — approximately four days per week across two years, including two days of live classes and two days of independent studio work and project development.
It suits students who:
Are ready to invest properly in a career change or professional upgrade
Want design education, not just a competency qualification
Are comfortable studying in an online environment alongside in-studio peers
Have a genuine interest in plants, outdoor space and design thinking
Are prepared to work independently between sessions
No prior design experience is required. Many of our most capable graduates started with no formal background in design or horticulture at all.
The Practical Details
Intake: Classes begin each March, with applications open now.
Study mode: Live online (or in-studio in Melbourne)
Duration: Two years, four semesters
Class days: Two days per week, on Melbourne time
Accreditation: Society of Garden Designers (UK)
Applications: Via the LCGD website — a prospectus is available to download for full course details
Ready to Find Out More?
If you are a Western Australian considering garden design as a next career, whether you're changing direction, building on a love of plants, or looking for work that finally feels meaningful, we welcome your enquiry
Explore the Garden Design Program, download a Prospectus, or get in touch with our team to talk through your options and study pathway.
Places are limited each intake. Applications for the next cohort are open now.