Dr Noel Kingsbury

Planting Design with Perennials

  • Recommended

    $265

    Includes personal feedback and tuition. More

  • $75

    Learn in an online classroom with no more than 20 classmates. More

Course Description

Learn how to design a perennial garden with expert gardener and horticulturalist Dr Noel Kingsbury.

Noel is a long-time collaborator with the renowned garden designer Piet Oudolf. By the end of the course you will have learnt how to make the right plant selections and gain a solid understanding of the Oudolf approach to a perennial garden.

Noel looks at contemporary approaches  to using perennials, with a particular focus on naturalistic approaches.  

You will explore how to create planting schemes that suit the particular conditions of your garden, covering a wide range of temperate zone climates; for example if your soil is poor and fast draining, Noel will guide you through the basic principles of choosing plants which survive and flourish in these conditions.  

Noel will outline how to make successful planting designs which combine structure, a long season of interest and support for bio-diversity and sustainability by reducing or eliminating irrigation and minimizing maintenance.

The course provides a particularly strong theoretical basis, but with plenty of plant variety tables provided for helping you choose plants.

You'll be suited to this course whether you are an enthusiastic amateur, or a landscaper or designer looking to hone your skills in the particular planting area of perennials.  It's a unique opportunity to get personal tuition from a world expert in perennial planting.  

What are perennials?

Perennial plants are plants that live for more than 2 years (unlike annual plants which die annually).

Perennials have become the most popular garden plants, not just because of their beauty and the ease with which they can be grown, but because they are at the heart of a planting style which is more naturalistic, more sustainable, and often lower maintenance than many traditional garden styles.

This course aims at helping you understand the connections between perennials as wild plants in their natural environment, and as garden plants, helping you select the right plants for your situation. We look at their long-term performance, and how they can be used alongside other garden plants.

You'll learn:

  • about the botany of perennial plants
  • how to use perennial plants in garden design
  • matching perennials to planting environments - including shaded, dry and damp positions
  • using perennial flowers and foliage throughout the seasons

The course includes:

  • 4 on-demand video lessons - presented by Dr Noel Kingsbury
  • lifetime access to the video, notes and interactive class
  • flexible classes - join and learn when and where you like
  • downloadable lesson notes
  • practical (optional) photography assignments
  • access on your mobile, PC, Mac or laptop
  • small interactive online classroom chat online to students from around the world

Time to complete this perennial gardening course:

Every student is different but in general we think the whole course will take around 14 hours 20 minutes to complete including:

  • Video lesson: 1 hour 20 minutes in total
  • Lesson notes: 30 minutes per lesson
  • Assignment: at least 2 hours per lesson
  • Interactive classroom time: 15 minutes per lesson
  • Tutor feedback review (Expert level): 15 minutes per assignment

Ready to get started?

Just add the course to your basket above - choose the 'Expert' option for personal feedback from Noel on your perennial plans.

Any questions? Contact us by clicking on the orange speech symbol - we'd love to hear from you.

CPD Accreditation

Course activity has been accredited by the CPD Standards Office (CPDSO). The course equates to 14 hours, 20 minutes of CPD learning.
The CPD Standards Office. CPD Provider: 50276.

Course outline

  • Understanding Perennials

    In the first lesson you will learn to take the 'rabbit's eye view', getting down to observe plants at ground level, and even below ground. Noel takes you through the fundamentals of life: perennial lifecycles, longevity and reproduction. You will also take part in a thought experiment, which enables you to get a deep understanding of how perennials survive and colonise. Throughout the first week Noel peppers the lecture with examples including many from the work he’s done with acclaimed planting designer and horticultural writer Piet Oudolf.

  • Perennials in Planting Design

    In this lesson Noel looks at various types of perennial planting, and some of the basic issues in selecting and combining plants – the basics of how to make an amazing garden! Topics include the traditional perennial border, ratios of structural planting, cottage garden perennials and foliage plants. Again many examples are given in lecture two – and students are encouraged to ask any questions in the classroom for plant recommendations to suit their own environment.

  • Perennials in Their Habitat

    During this lecture you will look at three situations where careful matching of plant and place is needed: dry environments, wet ones, and shade. Some gardens are dominated by these problems, and many have a small area where careful plant selection is needed. A more positive approach is to suggest that these special environments create opportunities for plants with particular needs or tolerances.

  • Perennials Through The Year

    Lastly you will learn about some examples of perennials which make an especially strong impact during particular seasons as a way of exploring some basic principles of what looks good when and why. We also look at some of the less obvious ways in which perennials can contribute to seasonal beauty. The final lecture and assignment empowers the student to see the world differently, and you should come away being able to put into practice most of the theory you have learnt throughout the course.

Choose how you want to learn

  • The Expert option

    Recommended

    Develop your learning further with marked assignments and personal tuition from Dr Noel Kingsbury

    • Start course whenever you like
    • 4 weeks tutor access for personalised assignment feedback & coaching
    • 4 assignments marked by Dr Noel Kingsbury
    • Certificate of completion and CPD hours
    • Online classroom with up to 20 classmates
    • 4 lessons with expert videos & notes
    • Group chat & direct message with tutor & classmates
    • Lifetime access to videos, notes & classroom
    Learn more
    $265
  • The Peer option

    Discover the benefits of group learning in an online interactive classroom of no more than 20 people. Get the most from shared knowledge and community study

    • Start course whenever you like
    • Practise what you learn with your peers
    • Online classroom with up to 20 classmates
    • 4 lessons with expert videos & notes
    • 4 course assignments
    • Group chat & direct message classmates
    • Lifetime access to videos, notes & classroom
    Learn more
    $75

New
Buy this course for a business or group

You can now buy this course through your business or organisation for individuals and groups up to 20

Gardening classroom - how it works

  • Start anytime

    Watch video tutorials led by expert tutors

    Watch video tutorials led by expert tutors
  • Test yourself

    Practice what you learn with inspiring assignments

    Practice what you learn with inspiring assignments
  • Personal tuition

    Get assignment feedback from expert tutors

    Get assignment feedback from expert tutors
  • Share ideas

    Collaborate and chat directly to classmates

    Collaborate and chat directly to classmates

Meet Dr Noel Kingsbury

Dr Noel Kingsbury - Gardening

Kingsbury's garden writing is among the best you will find in the English language.

From the blog View from Federal Twist, James R. Golden
Dr Noel Kingsbury is an acclaimed garden designer, best-selling author of numerous books and long-time collaborator of the renowned designer Piet Oudolf. With a doctorate from the University of Sheffield he is a leading figure in naturalistic planting design and the New Perennial Movement.

Noel Kingsbury is an international garden designer and writer on gardening, plant sciences and related topics. He is best known for his promotion of naturalistic planting design in gardens and designed landscapes (e.g. the 1996 publication of 'The New Perennial Garden', pub. Frances Lincoln, London), and his 25 year collaboration with Dutch garden and landscape designer Piet Oudolf on books on planting design. He writes sometimes for The Daily Telegraph, Gardens Illustrated magazine and The Garden - the membership magazine of the Royal Horticultural Society. He has worked with Prof. Nigel Dunnett, of the University of Sheffield on the first book in English on green roof and related 'green architecture' technologies. In collaboration with Tim Richardson Kingsbury has edited Vista, the Culture and Politics of Gardens and co-chairs events at the Garden Museum in London under the title 'Vista'. He has worked with several notable garden photographers, such as Marianne Majerus and Andrea Jones.

Kingsbury earned a doctorate from the University of Sheffield in 2009, for a thesis on the Long term performance of ornamental herbaceous vegetation. He continues to research in this area.

Kingsbury has also written a history of plant breeding, Hybrid, The History and Science of Plant Breeding (2009).

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Awards & Accreditations

  • CPD Accredited (provider 50276)
  • Good Web Guide
  • Red Herring Winner
  • Education Investor Awards 2021 - Finalist
  • Royal Horticultural Society
  • Digital Education Awards 2023 Winner for Digital Health and Wellbeing Learning Product of the Year
  • Digital Education Awards 2023 Winner for Adult Home Learning Product of the Year