Landscape design is a multifaceted skill, but it’s not just about making landscaping spaces look nice! It’s also about understanding timbers, plants, soils and other materials, and adapting them to suit the climate, setting and features of the environment you are working with.
It also involves being able to take a vision and transform into a space where people want to socialise, relax or work. Effective landscape designs can enhance the value of properties, provide environmental advantages and even enrich the communities in which they’re situated.
Our Certificate of Landscaping is ideal for garden designers, garden maintenance staff, landscape construction workers and anyone with a passion for creating beautiful outdoor spaces. The course will teach you about horticulture, plant names and the history and styles of gardening. You will learn about the different garden styles — including cottage, oriental, Mediterranean and subtropical gardens, and their furnishings including lighting, garden art, furniture, ponds, fountains and water displays. Our landscape design course will also teach you how to pre-plan a site, design and generate landscape drawings, and create different environments — from those in backyards and parks to play landscapes and those in sporting facilities.
Learning Outcomes
Outcomes achieved by undertaking a landscaping course include:
And more!
From designers who host popular TV shows to those who are recognised at the world’s most prestigious gardening awards, there have been a number of influential landscape designers over the years. They have provided inspiration to home gardeners, gardening gurus and even those who have studied a landscape design course. Here are some of Australia’s most popular.
A landscape designer and gardening media personality, Jim graduated from Burnley Horticultural College in Melbourne in 1992. In 2006, he was invited by the Singapore National Parks Board to compete in the inaugural Singapore Garden Festival. Here, he won a gold medal and the RHS (UK) Award for Horticultural Excellence. He won the RHS Award again in 2010.
Jim holds over twenty internationally recognised design awards, including winning a gold medal at London’s Chelsea Flower Show in 2011. He has also won Horticultural Excellence and Best in Show awards at the Melbourne International Flower & Garden Show, and the A.W. Comeadow medal – awarded for outstanding design of a display at a major horticultural show.
Jim is the current National President of the Horticultural Media Association of Victoria. He now designs gardens for commercial and private clients, and his international projects include designing gardens for garden shows and running garden design masterclasses.
Paal is an award-winning landscape designer known for his innovative approach to creating extraordinary gardens. Growing up in Ballarat in Victoria, his natural world became his inspiration, and he achieves balance through the use of different colours, textures and shape. He is also committed to demonstrating strong design principles in order to enhance a functional space.
At the 2009, 2010 and 2012 Melbourne International Flower & Garden Shows he was awarded gold medals, and he was also awarded the prestigious Royal Horticultural Comeadow Award for his 2010 submission, titled “The Wave Garden”. Paal’s scope of achievements is vast, from designing and constructing luxury balcony and rooftop gardens to regularly featuring in Australia’s top lifestyle and landscaping magazines.
Paal represented Australia at the 2015 Japan Garden & Flower Show. This is considered the ‘gardening World Cup’ and here he competed against green thumbs from over 30 countries. He received the Best Design Award, and in 2016, was awarded the People’s Choice Award.
Owner and Director of Daniel Tyrrell Landscapes, Daniel is an award-winning Melbourne landscape designer with a reputation for creating outdoor rooms and gardens. Since launching his business in 2003, he has forged a reputation as a leader in the design and construction of outdoor spaces.
In 2009, 2011 and 2013, he won Silver Medals at the Melbourne International Flower & Garden Show and in 2013, also won the Honda Sustainability Award for his entry titled ‘The Backyard Room”.
Daniel’s designs suit today’s modern lifestyles and he seeks to create balance and ambience between homes and their outdoor spaces. He believes gardens can be many things — from relaxing places to soothe the soul to landscapes that enhance and stimulate the senses and emotions.
Today, he tailors each of his creations to its surroundings and ensures his clients’ briefs are carefully considered in the process of taking their vision from paper to soil.
Ian has been in the industry for over 25 years and began his construction, maintenance and landscape design business in 1996 after completing two apprenticeships, several horticultural courses and working extensively abroad.
He has won gold and silver-gilt medals in 2008, 2010 and 2011 at the Chelsea Flower Show in London, and his most recent achievements include winning a gold medal at the 2015 Melbourne International Flower & Garden Show. He has also won the Horticultural & Media Association’s Best Use of Plant Life Award for his show garden titled “Cross Roads”.
These awards have cemented him as a designer fit to be on the Australian and international horticultural and garden design stage. His business, Ian Barker Gardens is one of the most sought-after landscape design and construction companies in Australia.
Alison has a multi-disciplined design background, with a Degree in Industrial Design and a post-graduate Certificate in Garden Design from Melbourne University. Her qualifications have meant she has worked in various fields — from exhibition to toy and fashion design.
In terms of awards, in 2015 Alison won a Gold award at The Melbourne International Flower & Garden Show in the Boutique Gardens category with her creation “Pipe Dream”. She has also won an international landscape designer award in Singapore in 2016.
Alison’s focus is now on satisfying her love of plants, sustainability and landscape design. She loves designing for smaller spaces and challenging sites, and is passionate about the finer details.
Known for his role as a presenter on the TV show, Selling Houses Australia, Charlie has been designing and building gardens for over 12 years. He won a Silver-Gilt medal at the Chelsea Flower Show in 2015 with his award-winning design titled “The Time in Between”, which was a tribute to his late father who passed away when he was 17.
Charlie and the team at his business Inspired Exteriors are passionate about creating beautiful, inspiring outdoor spaces that enrich their owners’ lives. They have worked on a number of high-end projects, including being commissioned to work in Hong Kong, Singapore, France and the UK. They have also won multiple awards at the Sydney and Melbourne International Flower & Garden Shows, and gold medals at The Australian Institute for landscape Designer and Managers (AILDM) awards.
Having been in the industry for over 25 years, Paul is been regarded as one of the foremost garden designers in Australia today. He holds a Bachelor of Applied Science (Horticulture) from the University of Melbourne, and his extensive list of projects spans public and private commissions in Australia, New Zealand, Europe, North America and the West Indies.
Paul has displayed countless exhibitions in Australia, been featured in a range of publications and has won numerous awards, including the Mobil Pegasus Award and the Centenary Medal.
Paul is committed to fulfilling the aspirations of clients that seek gardens that are expressive of the classic simplicity and timeless elegance for which he is internationally renowned. His personal insights have been included in a successful series of books, including The Defined Garden and The Garden at Stonefields.
Jamie is a qualified horticulturist and multi-award-winning international landscape designer who has been designing landscapes and water features in Australia and overseas since he launched his design practice in 1998. Durie Designs has offices in Sydney and LA, and he and his team have won multiple prizes and commendations including from the Singapore Garden Festival and the Melbourne International Flower & Garden Show. He has also won gold medals at the Chelsea Flower Show, and at gardening events in Tokyo, Auckland and New Zealand.
Jamie has also hosted and produced multiple TV shows, including The Outdoor Room, Top Design, Australia’s Best Backyards, and Backyard Blitz. In 2001, he made his debut into the realm of furniture design and his furniture is now retailed worldwide.
Learn how to plan, create and make outdoor spaces come to life with a landscape design course, such as our Certificate of Landscaping.
Landscape design courses that focus on biophilic design combine natural systems and elements into a landscape to increase people’s physical and mental wellbeing. The word biophilic essentially means ‘love of nature’, and this course will teach you how to use landscaping methodologies and techniques to encourage the use of public spaces and make landscapes more people-friendly.
Our Introduction to Biophilic Landscaping is ideal for those working in horticulture, environmental management landscape design and construction, or anyone keen to undertake the design of parks, gardens, cityscapes, streetscapes and more!
Learning outcomes achieved by undertaking landscape design courses include:
Many landscape design courses like ours focus on biophilic design because it can reduce stress and improve well-being – qualities which are important in our increasingly urbanised world. The 14 patterns of biophilic design represent the relationship between human biology, nature and the design of a built environment. And according to research scientists and design practitioners, they define the aspects of nature that most impact our satisfaction within these types of environments.
#1 – Visual Connection With Nature – this is a view to elements of nature, natural processes and living systems. If achieved, it can be either stimulating or calming, and convey a sense of weather, time and other living things.
#2 – Non-Visual Connection With Nature – this is stimuli connected to the other senses (hearing, touch, smell and taste) that gives a positive reference to nature, natural processes or living systems. Spaces feel well balanced and fresh, and the conditions are both complex and familiar.
#3 – Non-Rhythmic Sensory Stimuli – when in these spaces, people feel as though they are experiencing something fresh, stimulating, interesting and energizing. They also give people brief, but welcome distractions.
#4 – Thermal and Airflow Variability – this pattern is characterized by subtle changes in humidity, temperature and airflow across the skin that mimics a natural environment. These spaces feel alive, refreshing and invigorating, while providing a feeling of both flexibility and control.
#5 – Presence of Water – these are spaces that enhance someone’s experience through hearing, touching or seeing water. They feel captivating and compelling, and sound, lighting, accessibility and proximity can contribute to whether someone feels calm or stimulated or both.
#6 – Dynamic and Diffuse Light – this pattern leverages varying intensities of shadow and light that change over time to create natural conditions. They convey expressions of movement and time and evoke intrigue and drama combined with a sense of calm.
#7 – Connection with Natural Systems – this is an awareness of natural processes especially seasonal changes that define a healthy ecosystem. These spaces make people aware of the cycles of life, and they are nostalgic, relaxing, enlightening and frequently anticipated.
#8 – Biomorphic Forms and Patterns – these are symbolic references to textured, patterned or numerical arrangements that we see in nature. These spaces feel comfortable and possibly contemplative, captivating and even capable of absorbing energy.
#9 – Material Connection with Nature – this pattern refers to elements and materials from nature that reflect the local geology or ecology. These spaces feel warm, authentic, rich and sometimes stimulating to people’s touch.
#10 – Complexity and Order – this is rich, sensory information to connects to a spatial hierarchy that is similar to what you would experience in nature. These spaces feel engaging and are a balance between being boring and overwhelming.
#11 – Prospect – this pattern offers an unobstructed view over distances. These spaces feel freeing and open while offering a sense of control and safety, particularly when people are alone or in an unfamiliar environment.
#12 – Refuge – these are places for withdrawal from activity or environmental conditions where people are protected overhead and from behind. They feel safe, contemplative, embracing and offer people a sense of retreat.
#13 – Mystery – this pattern is a promise of more information, and entice people to travel deeper into the environment. They evoke a feeling of anticipation and offer a combination of denial and reward that compels people to further investigate the space.
#14 – Risk or Peril – this pattern refers to an identifiable threat combined with a reliable safeguard. These spaces feel exhilarating because people feel they may be dangerous but nevertheless intriguing and worth exploring.
Every year, the Australian Institute of Landscape Designers and Managers (AILDM) recognises the very best landscape designers and their projects from around the country. Here is a list of last year’s Gold Award winners who will offer plenty of reasons for you to consider landscape design courses as your next career move!
Richard Rimell of Quercus Gardens
Judy Dolin of South House Gardens
Claudia Crawley of Grindstone Landscapes
Alison Watson of Outdoor Designs
Rebecca Colechin and Michael Doak of Ecodesign
Steve Warner of Outhouse Design
Charlie Albone of Inspired Exteriors
Nicola Cameron of Pepo Botanic Design
Julia Levitt of Sticks & Stones Landscape Design
Adrian Swain and Michael Doak of Ecodesign
Jane Stark of Stark Design
Gerrad Everson of Octopus Garden Design
Steve Warner of Outhouse Design
Mitchell Turner of Goodmanors Pools and Gardens
Nicola Cameron of Pepo Botanic Design
Adam McDonald of Impressions Landscape Design
Colin Marchant of Costata Landscape Design
Nathan Burkett of Nathan Burkett Design
Phil Antcliff of Fifth Season Landscapes
Nathan Burkett of Nathan Burkett Design
Steve Taylor of C.O.S Design
Fiona Ericsson of Sticks and Stones Landscape Design
Jamie Clapham of Clapham Landscape Architecture
Robert McIlroy of Saunders Havill Group
Adrian Swain of Ecodesign
Ruth Czermak of Botanical Traditions
Brendan Barmby of Blue Landscape Architecture
Daniel Kavanagh of The Gardenmakers
Adam McDonald of Impressions Landscape-Design
Jane Stark of Stark Design
Gerrad Everson of Octopus Garden Design
Nathan Burkett of Nathan Burkett Design
Judy Dolin of South House Gardens
Steve Taylor of C.O.S Design
Barbara Landsberg of Landsberg Garden Design
Alison Watson of Outdoor Designs
Phil Antcliff of Fifth Season Landscapes
Adrian Swain of Ecodesign
Robert McIlroy of Saunders Havill Group
And finally, this award is named in honour of landscape architect and horticulturist Allan Correy, who was known for his ecological and modernist approach to design. The winner of last year’s most coveted award (and the ultimate inspiration for undertaking landscape design courses) was…Adrian Swain from Ecodesign
Keen to create landscapes that positively enhance people’s physical and mental wellbeing? Put that green thumb to good use with a landscape design course like our Introduction to Biophilic Landscaping!
