This two-year, four-semester Diploma is ideal for:

• People looking to make a genuine career change and turn a love of gardens and design into something professional and purposeful. Many students arrive with a background in a completely different field, yet bring a fresh perspective and passion that we cultivate.

• Garden lovers and creatives who aren’t just tinkering with plants at home any more - you’re ready to elevate your thinking, see how planting, space, structure and site all come together, and work with real projects, real clients, real design challenges.

• Anyone who wants to balance creativity with a sustainable profession. Our industry is increasingly concerned with ecology, climate responsiveness, planting that thrives in place, construction that works and design that matters, so if sustainability resonates with you, this is your kind of program.

• Those with no prior design or horticultural training. You don’t need to have studied architecture or landscape design or been a gardener professionally. We welcome complete beginners and build foundational skills (in site analysis, drawing, planting, CAD, business) and grow you into a confident designer.

• Students who want to learn alongside industry‐active tutors and peers who bring different backgrounds. The mix of experience and perspective makes for a vibrant, supportive cohort.

In short: if you’re curious about the world of garden and landscape design, want to express your design voice, and are ready for a professional level of training (not just a hobby class) — this course is for you.

Your learning journey at LCGD blends practical, immersive, studio‐led experiences with theoretical and digital skillsets, so you graduate ready for real-world design. Here’s how:

• Studio teaching & live lectures: Learning is delivered through a blend of in-person classes, live online lectures and studio sessions. The Royal Botanic Gardens Victoria, Melbourne Gardens provides an important learning setting throughout the program, alongside site visits and online teaching from leading practitioners.

• Blended & online learning: If you can’t be in Melbourne, you can still participate in real-time online classes, connected live to the studio students. Remote students follow the same timetable, projects and assessments as on-site students.

• Hands-on design projects: Over four semesters you’ll undertake real brief-to-presentation studio works including concept development, planting plans, construction detailing, CAD drawings, client-style documentation. We bring in external professionals and real briefs where possible.

• Professional speaker lectures & specialist modules: Tutors are practising designers, horticulturists and construction technicians. Specialist subjects include planting design, landscape construction, CAD skills, business and practice management. This ensures you not only design well, but understand how to deliver and work commercially.

• Field trips & live client visits: You’ll have garden-visits and site-based learning opportunities (for example to the The Australian Garden, Cranbourne) where you unpack real planting schemes, spatial composition and the stories behind built landscapes.

• Learning community & peer collaboration: Whether online or in studio, you’ll work alongside a cohort of peers, get one-to-one support from tutors, access to online resources, and a learning culture shaped by interaction, feedback and shared creative energy.

In essence: the course gives you design mindset, technical tools and real-world application so you’re ready on graduation to step into a garden or landscape design role or start your own design practice.

Completing this diploma opens up multiple career pathways, and our industry-aligned training means you’re not just motivated, you’re prepared. Here are the possibilities:

• Start your own practice: Many graduates choose to launch their own garden and landscape design studio. Because you’ll be trained not only in design but also business fundamentals (client briefs, program management, presentation, pricing, documentation) the transition into self-employed life is better managed. See our graduates.

• Work in design studios or firms: You’ll be ready for roles within established garden design or landscape architecture practices, where your mix of horticultural knowledge, CAD/drawing skills, planting design ability and construction understanding will be valued.

• Horticulture, ecology & landscape project roles: Graduates also step into positions with botanical gardens, parks departments, landscape contractors, ecologically-led planting firms or sustainability-based consultancies, especially those who bring design plus plant knowledge.

• Geographic flexibility: While you’ll study in Melbourne or online, the skills are relevant across Australia, New Zealand and beyond. Whether you’re in a regional context, coastal or suburban setting, you’ll be able to design gardens that respond to place, climate and client context.

• Further education & professional development: Beyond graduation you can deepen into specialised areas (e.g., planting design, construction, ecological garden design, garden show design) and continue to build your credentials and network. The college supports graduates with ongoing professional mentoring.

So, wherever your ambition lies, whether you design intimate home gardens, larger landscapes, show gardens, or carve a niche in sustainable outdoor spaces, this course gives the foundation, the confidence and the network to make it happen.