Online Micro-Credential · Garden Design

Turn Your Passion for Gardens Into a Career in Landscape Design

If you keep redrawing the back garden in your head, start here. You cover site analysis, plant and turf selection, hardscaping and styling. Two working designers mentor you, and that is the right fit.

From $29a week, no deposit
12 Monthsaccess to the course
60 Hoursof study, roughly
Two Mentorsworking designers
At a Glance

Course Snapshot

Duration12 months access, about 60 hours
CostFrom $29 a week on a payment plan
DeliveryOnline, study whenever suits you
AssessmentNo exams; mentors critique key submissions
EntryNo prerequisites, beginners welcome
MentorsClare Mackarness and Jim Fogarty
Comes with
  • No deposit and no credit check
  • Ten topics from brief to exterior styling
  • Live interactive sessions with mentors
  • Detailed written feedback on your work
Who It’s For

Why Do This Course

Design Gardens on Purpose

Loving plants and designing a space are different skills. This course teaches the second one, from brief through to build.

Get Your Work Critiqued

Two working designers read what you submit and tell you what is off. That is how design gets better.

Take Clients of Your Own

Design briefs, site analysis and styling are what a client pays for. Learn them and you can charge for the work.

Where The Skills Fit

Where These Skills Could Take You

Design work runs through nurseries, studios and people's own back yards. The work is easy to picture: walking a site, sketching a layout, choosing what goes where.

Garden Designer

Designing private gardens for people who live in them.

Landscape Designer

Larger sites, harder ground, more of the built elements.

Nursery Worker

Advising customers on planting with a designer's eye.

Roles where these skills are useful, not promised outcomes. Every role is different, and some need more study or experience. Contractor, horticulture and consulting work often needs a licence or a trade behind it.

The Course

What You Learn

Ten topics: read the site, choose the planting, then build the picture.

01
Design Thinking
Why a garden is laid out the way it is, and how a brief starts.
Designing With Purpose
Design Styles & Aesthetics
The Design Brief
Location & Site Analysis
02
Planting and Ground
What goes in the ground, and what holds it all together.
Design Tools
Plant Selection & Design
Turf Selection & Management
03
Building the Picture
Paths, walls, sustainability and the finish that ties it together.
Hardscaping
Sustainability & Land Management
Exterior Styling
Included

What You’ll Get

Learning

  • Twelve months access, about 60 hours of study
  • Ten topics, brief through to styling
  • No exams, mentor critique instead
  • Live sessions, workshops and demonstrations

Support

  • Two mentors, private messaging and feedback
  • Discussion boards, talk to other students
  • Abby assistant, available around the clock
  • Help Centre, community support team
Why This One

What Makes It Different

Three things carry this course: named mentors, live sessions, and a full year to work through it.

01
Mentors Who Still Design

Clare Mackarness founded Clare Mack Studio. Jim Fogarty is an AILA registered landscape architect with international awards behind him.

02
Live Sessions, Not Just Video

Planting workshops, concept demonstrations, site walkthroughs and layout critiques run live. There are guest talks and portfolio sessions too.

03
A Year, Not a Sprint

Access runs twelve months for about sixty hours of study. Design work takes thinking time, and the format allows it.

The Credentials

What You Walk Away With

Micro-Credential

Micro-Credential

Industry recognised, awarded on completion

An Industry Micro-Credential

You finish with an industry recognised micro-credential. It stands as professional development.

Mentor Feedback on Record

Clare and Jim critique your key submissions in writing. That feedback is the part you keep.

International Backing

ICOES, the CPD Standards Office and the International Approval and Registration Centre all back the college.

Getting Started

How It Works

Step one

Enquire

Ask for the course guide. It takes a minute.

Step two

Talk It Through

An advisor checks the course fits what you want to design.

Step three

Enrol and Start

Choose a payment option and open the first topic.

Step four

Submit and Learn

Send work in, get critique back, redraw it better.

The Investment

How to Get Started

From $29 / week
Pay upfront, or spread it weekly, fortnightly or monthly.
No deposit to start
No credit check
Weekly, fortnightly or monthly payments
10-day money back guarantee
Enquire Now
Good to Know

Common Questions

Do I need experience to start?

None is stated. It suits people brand new to landscape design, and people already working who want to sharpen the design side.

How long does it take?

Access runs twelve months, and the study is about 60 hours. Most people spread it out, since design work wants thinking time.

What does it cost?

From $29 a week on a payment plan, with no deposit and no credit check. You can pay weekly, fortnightly or monthly, or settle it upfront.

How is the course assessed?

No exams, ever. Mentors review your key submissions and give constructive critique on them.

Can I charge for design work after this?

Design itself is not a licensed trade, so people do start taking private clients on skills like these. Building the garden is a different matter, and construction, drainage and structural work need licensed trades. What this gives you is the design end: the brief, the site read, the planting plan and the styling.

Who teaches it?

Clare Mackarness, a landscape designer who founded Clare Mack Studio, and Jim Fogarty, an AILA registered landscape architect with international awards. Both critique student work directly.

What kind of recognition does it carry?

It is an industry recognised micro-credential, backed by ICOES, the CPD Standards Office and the International Approval and Registration Centre. That is recognition for professional development. It is not a nationally recognised credential under the Australian Qualifications Framework, and the college is not an RTO. For building a design portfolio with mentor feedback behind it, that is the job it does.

What if I change my mind?

A 10-day money back guarantee covers you. Tell them inside that window.

Delivered By

About the College

The Career Academy is an online college teaching design, business and health subjects. This course is delivered through Ulleo, its education partner, and you enrol through the college.

Online, self-pacedDelivered via Ulleo25,000+ students a yearTwo working mentors
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Picture standing in a garden you drew before anyone planted it.

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