An innovative distance learning version of its post-graduate level diploma in residential garden design has just been launched by the Oxford College of Garden Design.

This will enable geographically distant students to train for a profession for which Britain is well-known and respected worldwide, alongside about 20 students in the college’s Oxford classroom.

From September onwards this will be based at St Hugh’s College.

The two groups of students will share teachers and resources, and form an interactive learning community using an online forum for questions and answers and ‘webinars’ — electronic seminars — which allow as many as 100 people to communicate online simultaneously.

Because lectures will be recorded and stored for online students, they will be able to listen to them again and pick up on any points they missed.

The resources on offer — like those of pioneers of distance learning such as The Open University — will accumulate, becoming richer and more comprehensive over time.

Many of the ideas for the online course have been adapted from existing approaches to teaching that involve IT, according to college founder and principal Duncan Heather.

The college has always been at the cutting edge in terms of new technology. While drawing boards and coloured pencils still have their place, for the past five years every student has been trained in CAD (computer-aided design) using software such as VectorWorks.

Things have come a long way since 1992, when Mr Heather set up the college to fill a gap in the market for a serious professional qualification in garden design.

At that time, he said, it was seen by some as the preserve of the enthusiastic amateur, a “hobby profession, as opposed to a true profession.”

To challenge this perception he decided to develop a comprehensive and well thought-out training course.

A read through of the diploma curriculum shows what a thorough grounding it provides. Subjects range from garden history to hard landscape construction, and from the submission of planning applications to contract law.

It is a fast-track course and many students study intensively for a year for the qualification. Most online students are likely to study part-time over two years.

Many of the skills students learn — such as how to survey a site, and design in three dimensions — are identical to those required by an architect.

And, while they are taught about soil, growing conditions and plants, the emphasis is definitely on design.

Mr Heather said: “It’s an art-based subject, not a horticultural subject. The planting is almost the icing on the cake”.

Most students are in their 30s or 40s and tend to be people making a career change.

Mr Heather explained: “They want to get out of the rat race and back to doing something creative.”

Because most course graduates want to set up their own garden design consultancies, the college bases the training on the realities of running such a business.

For example, students undertake three major projects, involving sites that may range from a town courtyard to a two-acre country estate.

They go to real gardens, interview clients, obtain briefs and develop designs that are exhibited alongside those of their peers. The clients then choose their favourite to commission.

The college’s commitment to its students goes beyond graduation. Each is allocated a mentor to help them as they set up their business.

Many have gone on to win prizes and high profile commissions, including graduate Sarah Price, who is currently designing the showcase gardens for the main entrance to the 2012 Olympics in East London, with a budget of £5m.

Mr Heather’s own teacher and mentor was the renowned garden designer John Brookes. Enormously influential, it was he who in 1969, first coined the term ‘the room outside’ to describe what was then a new way of thinking about the garden as an integral part of people’s living space, one that could be decorated and furnished.

After working for Mr Brookes, Mr Heather set up his own garden design business, Duncan Heather and Associates, which he now runs alongside teaching.

Mr Heather’s favourite gardens include those designed by 18th century landscape gardener William Kent at Rousham House, near Bicester.

Mr Heather said: “Rousham is one of the most magical places, and it has little to do with the plants and the flowers and everything to do with the space.”

Mr Heather and his wife, plantswoman Carol, have created their own garden near Henley, partly out of beech woodland.

He added: “I really like woodland gardens; the shafts of sunlight coming down through the trees and the dancing shadows.”

Garden design is clearly a source of great job satisfaction to those prepared to master the range of skills it requires.

“Your goal is to create a beautiful space that responds to the genius loci — the spirit of the place. It is one of the few professions where you can leave a legacy behind you,” said Mr Heather.

Contact: www.garden-design-courses.co.uk