Over
75% of teaching at Garden Design School
is undertaken by the college’s
founders and directors, Moira Farnham
and Robin Templar Williams (click on
‘About Us’, left, for more details).
However, several lecture days/sessions
are taken
by leading experts in specialist/allied
aspects of garden design. Here are brief
details of our ‘guest lecturers’:
| ** | = | Lectures at both Painshill Park, Surrey and The Bristol Botanic Garden. |
| * |
= | Lectures at Painshill Park only. |
| # | = | Lectures at Bristol Botanic Garden only. |
|
Richard Baker**, Dip Arch RIBA |
Specialist
Subject: Planning and Gardens
|
Richard Baker is a very experienced chartered architect who has worked for many years in planning and conservation in London and the South East. He has also won a Gold Medal for landscape design at the Chelsea Flower Show.Richard's lecture on how the planning system impacts on garden designers contains lots of useful, practical guidance and advice on Planning Law, Policy and making a Planning Application. Richard says: "If you're advising clients on the development of land, you need to be informed and aware of planning requirements. Many proposals don't actually require planning permission but if you're extending a garden, creating garden structures, altering landform, disturbing wildlife or dealing with historic buildings and landscapes, you will need to engage with the planning process."
|
Paul Cowell** |
Specialist Subject: Contract Documentation
|
Paul Cowell is managing director of a thriving garden and landscape construction business
– P C Landscapes Ltd – and has worked for over 20 years in the gardening and landscaping industries. He holds a National Diploma and Honours Degree in landscape construction and landscape architecture, has contributed to numerous magazine, newspaper and TV projects, lectured on a wide range of subjects (including health and safety) and been both an award-winner and judge in many major competitions. He is also a BALI board director and full member of the SGD. In short, there isn’t much about garden and landscape contracting that he doesn’t know! Paul’s workshop for GDS students will focus on contract administration, from concept to completion. He’ll discuss several projects, the reasons for using particular contracts, problems that might be encountered and how to resolve them. “ I want to develop the students’ contract management and commercial skills so that they can enter our industry as credible, professional practitioners”.
More information: www.pclandscapes.co.uk |
Kristina
Fitzsimmons* MA(Hons) Cantab, MSGD |
Specialist
Subject: Plant Science, Classification
and Nomenclature
|
London-based
Kristina Fitzsimmons studied Natural Sciences
at Cambridge University, specialising in
applied plant sciences and, for a number
of years, taught Biology to ‘A’ level
students. Her love of plants and skill
as a trained botanist gradually evolved
into a professional interest
in garden design: she trained at the
English Gardening
School and now runs her own, highly successful,
garden design consultancy.
She has exhibited a variety
of work at the Chelsea and Hampton Court flower
shows and became a registered Member
of the Society of
Garden Designers (MSGD) in 1992. She
is also part of the schools’ education
team at the Royal Botanic Gardens at
Kew in London.
More information: www.kristinafitzsimmons.co.uk |
Ian Humby**
MRICS, AMInsc CES |
Specialist Subject:
Surveying
|
 Ian Humby is a self-employed,
chartered land surveyor with over 25 years
experience. He routinely works with architects,
developers and landscape architects but,
since 1997, has specialised in providing
surveying services to garden designers.
He has tackled almost every type of project
imaginable, from small domestic gardens
to 100-acre sites.
His philosophy on teaching
surveying and levelling skills is to keep
things simple: “I just try to de-mystify
the whole process. Surveying
is an important aspect of garden design
but the basics
aren’t difficult to grasp if they
are taught properly.” |
Martin
Kelley** |
Specialist
Subject: Water Garden Design & Construction
|
 Martin Kelley has been
involved in the design and creation of
garden water features all his working life.
He trained under Anthony Archer-Wills for
over 10 years and then started his own
company, Fairwater Ltd, in 1993.
Widely
regarded as one of the UK’s leading
water garden experts, he acts as technical
consultant, designer and contractor for
many leading garden designers and landscape
architects. For Martin, water has a unique,
magical
quality which
works well in almost any garden, large
or small. He’s designed and built
everything from a single, bubbling stone
to a project featuring a seven-hectare
lake, fountains, waterfalls, streams,
water sculptures and natural swimming
pools! |
More information: www.fairwater.co.uk
|
Richard Key**, FSGD |
Specialist Subject (1): Setting Up & Running A Garden Design Business
Specialist Subject (2): Marketing & Promotion
|
 Writer, broadcaster and award-winning garden designer Richard Key has worked in the landscape and garden design industries for over 30 years and is an experienced and respected lecturer at some of the UK's leading garden design colleges. He is also a Fellow and former Vice Chairman and Treasurer of the Society of Garden Designers (SGD). Richard is eminently qualified to lecture on his chosen subjects: he set up his own, successful garden design practice fifteen years ago and is also co-director of a thriving garden maintenance company, Key Gardencare. He is fairly uncompromising about what it really takes to set up, run and promote a profitable business: “I have pretty clear and strong views, leaving students with no illusions about the realities of being a professional garden designer in this harsh financial climate. And no matter how well you design, it’s marketing that puts your name out there and selling your skills and services effectively that wins you the job.” More information: www.richardkey.co.uk |
Tony Lane** |
Specialist Subject: Arboriculture (Trees)
|
 Garden designers need to understand how to choose new trees and the implications of integrating existing ones into their designs in an imaginative but responsible, sustainable way. Our latest guest lecturer, Tony Lane, is a highly respected expert on this subject. A chartered forester and professional member of the Arboricultural Association, he is the director and senior consultant of a general practice, A M Lane Ltd.
In his lecture Tony uses case histories and lively anecdotes to explain the most important do's and don'ts concerning tree selection, location, growth, maintenance and safety. He examines the importance of conserving our existing tree stock and being aware of legal issues in the form of Tree Preservation Orders (TPO's), Conservation Areas and Planning Conditions. He also looks at the planning considerations and the implications of the recently revised BS5837 : 2005 (Trees in relation to construction - Recommendations) . |
Michael Shackleton** |
Specialist
Subject: Garden Lighting
|
 Having spent over 30 years working in the film industry - much of it as a lighting cameraman - there isn't much you can teach Michael Shackleton about the impact and effect of lighting on mood and atmosphere. He has since used this experience to create one of the UK's most successful garden lighting businesses, Ornamental Garden Lighting. Mike regularly works with landscape and garden designers and emphasises the need to build a rapport: "the key to lighting a garden is working very closely with the designer to complement and enhance their vision so that the client can enjoy their garden at night as much as they do during the day”. Mike’s lecture examines all of the potential benefits of garden lighting, the social and environmental impact, costs, the practicalities of installation and some of the most common pitfalls and problems. |
More information: www.ornamentalgardenlighting.com
|
Nicholas Wray#, MHort (RHS) F.I.Hort |
Specialist Subject: Plant Naming and Horticultural Practise
|
 Nicholas Wray is Curator of the University of Bristol Botanic Garden. He has worked in the Botanic Garden and University environment for 25 years, one of his key roles being to manage and develop the Garden’s educational programme. He has lectured on a wide range of horticultural subjects for many years and has travelled extensively, studying plants in the wild. In 1998 he was elected a Fellow of the Institute of Horticulture.
Nicholas’s lecture on plant naming and taxonomy will give students an understanding of why and how to write plant names properly. Nicholas believes: “If you want to make a professional presentation, writing plant names correctly on plans and planting lists is crucial, not least because of the commercial implications”. His lecture on soil science and basic botany will give students a fundamental understanding of how and what plants need to grow successfully. “Correct plant selection and appropriate maintenance are critical to every successful garden design” he says. |
