This Planting What and Where course will provide you with an understanding of plant knowledge that will help you select plants that are right for your garden.  Whether you are a professional or a home gardener, this course will help ensure that you are not wasting time and money by selecting the wrong plants for your location.

Plant selection is an important part of creating a beautiful and functional garden. With careful selection and well thought out planting schemes you can minimise maintenance, disease and prevent over-planting. Over-planting is one of the most easily made mistakes in a garden. This is especially so for large trees that could end up being very costly to remove.

This self guided short course will go through the essentials of plant selection and planting placement including plant selection, plant establishment methods, identifying problems, solutions for wet areas, gardening in the shade, designing windbreaks, hedges and screens in the garden, plants for dry gardens, plants ideal for coastal regions, trees and shrub selection, small garden design, plants for other situations, lawns and living garden art.

How does it work?

At the end of each lesson, you will be given a short interactive test to undertake, which will provide an indication of how your learning is progressing. Upon completing the very last lesson, you will be offered a more thorough automated test or examination. This final assessment can be undertaken at any time of day or night; and any day of the week; and if you achieve an overall pass (60% or more); you will be able to obtain a “certificate of completion” with your name and completion date on it.

Note: these short courses are self-guided online courses and are not to be confused with our tutor-supported online courses.

Course Content

There are 13 lessons in this course:

LESSON 1 PLANT SELECTION 

• Introduction – criteria for plant use
• Planting strategies
• Inspecting plants before purchase
• Know your plants -Annuals

LESSON 2 PLANT ESTABLISHMENT METHODS

• Ways to help plants get established
• Trickle irrigation
• Mulches
• Tree guards
• Techniques for planting sloped areas -pocket
• planting, slope serration, wattling
• Planting arid sites -direct seeding, spray seeding
• Rehabilitating damaged soils in the home garden
• What can go wrong
• Improving soil in a new garden
• Lime loving plants
• Fertilisers
• Salinity, pH, etc
• Problems with dogs and cats
• Know your plants – Fruit trees

LESSON 3 DETECTING PROBLEMS

• Pests
• Diseases
• First: conduct an inspection
• Second: take note of the environment
• Third: identify the problem
• Fourth: treat the problem
• Review what you have been learning
• Solutions for wet areas
• What can cause wet areas in your garden?
• Problems with wet areas
• Overcoming problems with boggy or wet areas
• Know your plants – orchids

LESSON 4  PLANTS FOR WET/ BOGGY SITES

• How to keep the soil wet all year
• Plants that grow in permanently wet soil
• Plants that tolerate wet in winter and drier soil in summer
• Creating a bog garden
• Construction of water gardens
• Plants for water gardens
• Review what you have been learning
• Gardening in the Shade
• Ferns
  

LESSON 5 SHADE 

• Considering shade problems
• Plants suited to full shade
• Ferns for varied levels of shade
• Shade trees
• Where to plant the shade tree
• Deciduous or semi deciduous trees
• Evergreen shade trees
• Know your plants – perennials

LESSON 6 WINDBREAKS HEDGES AND SCREENS

• Why use screening plants
• Hedges
• Hedge plants for different situations
• Windbreaks
• Know your plants – ornamental trees

LESSON 7 PLANTS FOR DRY GARDENS

• Introduction
• Gardening in dry conditions
• Overcoming dryness
• Dry pots
• Growing dry loving plants in moist soil
• Selecting drought tolerant trees
• Drought tolerant trees for various situations
• Design and planting a fire break
• How to arrange plants
• Distances from buildings
• Considerations – winds, vehicular access, fire resistant plants
• Fire resistant plants
• Know your plants -succulents

LESSON 8 COASTAL GARDENS

• Dealing with salt
• Creating wind breaks
• Hardy seaside plants
• Know your plants – palms

LESSON 9  TREES AND SHRUBS 

• Evergreen trees
• Cool conifers
• Deciduous trees for autumn colour
• Shrubs in the landscape
• Examples of long flowering plants
• Shrubs that flower in autumn
• What flowers in winter
• Living Christmas trees
• Know your plants – shrubs