Ecological Gardens Design Course Spring 2021

***UPDATE*** February 2021

 Registrations are open for the Ecological Gardens Design Course. The theory modules will be available online. You will learn on the existing VLE and we will have regular Zoom sessions with interactive activities and time for Q&A. The practical days will take place outdoors in Manchester and Broadbottom. Our first meeting is on Sunday, 25 ^th April, from 10 am to 4 pm [lunch break between 12 and 1 pm and tea breaks on the hour]. We will meet on the last Sunday of the month on zoom and the practical days will be scheduled as soon as it is deemed safe to meet in person. Book now.

Course sessions on zoom

Session 1 - 25 April 2021 - The Client and the Brief

Session 2 - 23 May - The Site

Session 3 - 20 June - The Ecological Design Process

Session 4 - 18 July - Soil, the foundation of the Garden

Session 5 - 15 August - Water retaining and draining Systems in the Garden

Session 6 - 12 September - Perennial Polycultures in the Garden

Session 7 - 10 October - Annual Polycultures in the Garden

Session 8 - 7 November - The Eco-Garden through the Seasons

Practical Days at Broadbottom. We start at 10 am and finish at 4 pm.

Saturday - 15 May 2021 - Polycultures for Spring and Summer

Saturday - 26 June - Self-Watering Systems 

Saturday - 10 July - Surveying a garden site

Saturday - 14 August - Polycultures for Autumn and Winter

Saturday - 18 September - The Art of Composting

Saturday - 16 October - Gardening with Perennials

 ***UPDATE*** December 2020

***Due to Covid-19 this course is currently postponed. The venues we work with are, at present, closed. If you are interested in the course please fill in the booking form below and we will keep you posted on future start dates. We aim to start the course as soon as it is safe to do so, and once the venues we work with in South and Central Manchester can open again*** December 2020

  The Ecological Gardens Design Course functions both as an introduction to the art and craft of permaculture design and also as a pathway to learn to apply ecological principles to the art of designing sustainable, abundant gardens. You can attend the first two sessions as an Introduction to Permaculture Design or complete the whole course if you want to design an ecological garden for yourself, family, friends a private client or community group.

   This course is for you if you want to design productive and beautiful gardens to a professional standard. If you have access to an outdoors space, it can be a balcony, a patio, a backyard, an allotment or a field, the ecological gardens design course will guide you through the process of designing a successful green haven.

 Whether you want to grow your own food and medicine, create a great space to socialise and or play, save the bees, rescue the ex-battery chickens, grow a garden to educate and foster well-being or all of these and more, this course will set you on the right track to achieve it.

 Ecological garden design, contrarily to common belief, is not primarily about planting schemes, wildlife gardening expertise, horticultural knowledge and ornamental features. It is foremost about understanding the relationship between what you want and need from a green space and how to best design and deliver it within site, climate, time and budget constraints.

 Reserve me a place on this course

 This course shows you the way forward to design a garden in an effortless, structured and ecologically sound way. It will guide you through the creative process professional garden designers use, and simultaneously teach you to design and think in an integrative and effortless way as an ecosystem does.

 You will save money, time and energy and achieve the best possible results by learning to embed holistic design practices into the garden haven you will create. The course will take you step by step through a structured pathway leading to a final, conceptual design plan for your green space.

 The ecological gardens design course is suitable for students who are new to permaculture design and for students who have completed Permaculture Design Courses.

 From November to March, over eight sessions we will guide you step by step on the journey to accomplish a final designed plan to create your dream green space. Just in time for implementation, when the growing season slowly awakens from its dormant winter slumber.

 No previous experience or training in permaculture design, organic gardening or horticulture required. You will learn the basic theory you need to design productive and elegant green spaces during the classroom sessions, and will have access via a virtual learning environment to a wealth of resources to further develop your knowledge over time, in your own time. This course does involve some level of independent guided learning between classroom sessions.

 The ecological garden design course will be led by Teresa Pereira with occasional guest teachers and will take place at the Parsonage in Didsbury, Manchester. The teaching room at the Parsonage is in a listed building, on the first floor, and unfortunately does not have a lift or upstairs wheelchair access. 

 To reserve a place on this course, please book here.

This Course runs once an year in a modular format over 8 sessions between November and March every winter. Next course Winter 2020. We start with 6 one day sessions on a Sunday and finish with 2 final sessions over a weekend in March.

If you are attending only the first two days for the Introduction to Permaculture Design the dates are 1.11.2020 and 22.11.2020 and the fee is £200.

Course dates and times:

Ecological Gardens Design Course sessions will run from 10 am to 4 pm. Course dates are now confirmed for Winter 2020 -2021:

Sunday 1.11.2020

Sunday 22.11.2020

Sunday 6.12.2020

Sunday 10.1.2021

Sunday 31.1.2021

Sunday 28.2.2021

Saturday 27.3.2021

Sunday 28.3.2021

Course dates are announced as soon as enough people have registered their interest. We need at least 8 students to run the course and places are limited to 12 maximum.

Book here

Please share this page with interested friends and acquaintances.

The course starts at 10 am and finishes at 4 pm.

Fees:

**  Early Bird course fee is £600 until 31.8.2020 ** A deposit of £200 is required shortly after booking to secure your place and the remainder can be settled in two further £200 payments or four £100 payments. More flexible payment plans are available upon request. You need to ensure you complete any monthly payments by standing order until December 2020. **

Terms and conditions:

** Deposits are non-refundable but transferable until six weeks before the course start date as long as there are people on the waiting list willing to take the place. 

** Students who might find themselves unable to attend for health or personal reasons can transfer their deposit and installments paid to future courses or alternatively find someone to take their place.  In case we have to cancel the course deposits and course fees will be fully refunded. **

Book here

Full price £800 payment options: £200 deposit, followed by £600 before the start of the course or 2 installments of £300 or 4 installments of £150. 

Concessions and alternative payment plans are available upon request, please contact us to discuss.