Courses for the green-fingered, from evening classes to full-time diplomas.

Capel Manor College
• Bullsmoor Lane, Enfield, Middlesex EN1 4RQ, www.capel.ac.uk.
Courses take place in Enfield, Regent's Park and Gunnersbury Park in London. There's a wide selection, including the four-year part-time foundation degree, costing £2,000 a year, which can be progressed on to an honours programme at Birkbeck College, University of London. There are also evening courses such as Introduction to Garden and Planting Design.

City & Guilds
• 1 Giltspur Street, London EC1A 9DD, www.cityandguilds.com.
Garden design is one of 15 units available if you study the City & Guilds Certificate in Gardening. Each student studies five units in total. The courses are taught at colleges nationwide and costs, length and times vary. To find a college near you, enter your postcode into the website.

English Gardening School
• 66 Royal Hospital Road, London SW3 4HS, www.englishgardeningschool.co.uk.
Choose from short courses at the Chelsea Physic Garden, such as the ten days over ten weeks Design Your Own Garden course, which costs £1,350, or the four-day Planting Design course, £540, as well as the one-year part-time Garden Design diploma, costing £7,850. The college also offers distance learning in garden design based on the diploma curriculum.

Garden Design School
• 32 Ferguson Road, Devizes, Wiltshire SN10 3UA, www. gardendesignschool.com.
Taught at Painshill Park in Surrey or the University of Bristol Botanic Garden, the diploma course is a one-year part-time intensive course. Both sites offer lectures and studio work, and you're expected to study for 30 hours a week independently. The course that starts in September 2009 costs £5,985. Try a taster day to find out more for just £25.

Guildford College
• Merrist Wood Campus, Worplesdon, Guildford, Surrey GU3 3PE, www.guildford.ac.uk.
Study one evening a week over ten weeks on the Design Your Own Garden course, at £160. There's also a once-a-week year-long Garden Design diploma, costing £4,150, the part-time foundation degree and the Garden Design BA (hons), each £2,100. The campus has model gardens under construction and a large plant collection on the 280-hectare estate, which the diploma and degree students enjoy.

Inchbald School of Design
• 32 Eccleston Square, London SW1V 1PB, www.inchbald.co.uk.
Learn about both contemporary and traditional garden styles here. If you want to study in the evenings, there's the once-a-week over ten weeks Design Your Own Garden course, costing £460, which allows you to produce a design for your own plot. There's also a once weekly over 12 weeks Planting Design course, £1,380, and the one-year Garden Design diploma, £17,960.

KLC School of Design
• Unit 503, The Chambers, Chelsea Harbour, London SW10 0XF, www.klc.co.uk.
Study traditional and contemporary garden design at Hampton Court Palace on a part-time, three-term diploma course, at £6,900, or opt for a shorter course such as the one-week Introduction to Garden Design, £687.50, which includes learning about influential garden styles and the principles of design. For beginners, there's a one-day introduction course, £137.50, which takes place at Chelsea Harbour.

London College of Garden Design
• c/o Landform Consultants, Holloway Hill, Chertsey, Surrey KT16 0AE, www.lcgd.org.uk.
The school offers a one-year Garden Design diploma, which begins in September. The course, based at Regent's College in London, lasts 34 weeks spread over three terms and comprises lectures, studio work and practical training, including visits to working garden construction sites and nursery workshops. It covers all garden styles and costs £8,995. Shorter courses are on offer, too, including workshops on contemporary design trends. These usually cost £130 per day.

Oxford College of Garden Design
• Greystone, Colmore Lane, Kingwood Common, Henley-on-Thames, Oxfordshire RG9 5NA, www.garden-design-courses.co.uk.
The year-long diploma course here involves around 600 hours of work in each of the 15-week semesters, and costs £12,493.61. All styles of garden are covered, and students are taught to create a link to a building's architecture when they design its garden. There's also a four-day course at which interiors enthusiasts can relate their design knowledge to an outside space.

Royal Horticultural Society
• RHS Wisley, Wisley, Woking, Surrey GU23 6QB, www.rhs.org.uk.
The Design Your Garden course in the beautiful surroundings of RHS Wisley takes place over six days in September and October. Taught by Robin Templar Williams of garden design consultancy Robin Williams and Associates, it includes design and planting principles and learning graphics. At the end of the course you should leave with a complete design for your own garden or areas of it. The course costs £950 for RHS members and £1,140 for non-members.

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WORDS SARAH WARWICK
JUNE 2009