History of our garden design courses — Oxford Brookes University

For 20 years, we taught our landscape and garden design courses at Oxford Brookes University.

When we went online in 1997, we wanted to maintain a `live’ feel. It’s why our teaching is delivered on video. It’s a clear, engaging way of learning — the same high-quality experience as the original University course.

The John Brookes method

The Oxford College of Garden Design is unique. Ours is the only course in the world that teaches the John Brookes design style in its entirety.  The principal Duncan Heather worked as John Brookes’s design assistant for several years before being offered a directorship with his company.  
As you probably know, Brookes was the first person to popularise the idea of gardens as an outside room — an extension of the home.
You will also have exclusive access to John Brookes’s entire library of work. Over 50 years and 300 design projects have been digitally scanned for your reference.
By learning this method of garden design, you’ll gain the ability to:

• Understand a Design Philosophy.
• Create gardens that could last 100’s of years.
• Connect a garden seamlessly to its surroundings (see Genus Loci)
• Use plants as architecture, rather than individual flowery points of interest
• Use shape, structure, and proportion to create a natural extension of the home and landscape
• Design gardens that serve the needs of those who use them

Are you ready to step into a new life?