You can have the career you always dreamt of and develop your love of design and gardening into the most rewarding experience. To be a landscape designer, being able to design gardens for others, work outside with living materials and orchestrate worlds for others to live in, is truly one of the most satisfying and fulfilling careers or interests there is. If this passion is what drives you, our Comprehensive Course will be your most valuable asset. At Irene School of Garden Design, we help people discover and develop their creative abilities and create memorable life and learning experiences. If you have always yearned to design, work with nature and people, love drawing decorating or putting things together, and inspire to a career that allows freedom, creativity, more time and purpose, then you are in the right place now. Irene School of Garden Design offers morning courses for those who can study during the day and who are embarking on a career or investing in their hobby. Irene School of Garden Design also offer evening courses specifically for those who want to pursue garden design as a new career, paying hobby or serious enthusiast, but need to do so after hours. It is the career you will never retire from and our comprehensive courses will help you get there.

The leading landscape designers in South Africa, International Universities and companies recommend us because we adopt a personal approach to education with every student. We present our courses in an enjoyable, friendly, and dynamic manner that suits everyone, regardless of your language preference, age or level of experience. We offer the only 1-year landscape design course that develops design skill trough creative conceptual thinking by means of a study approach and content unique to us. Irene School of Garden Design is independent, which allows us to be current, quality driven and personal, and are not bound by typical constraints of tertiary education such as points, credits or disruptions in learning. Irene School of Garden Design was also the first to include and develop spatial and architectural philosophy and theory into gardening courses. Courses are presented to smaller groups of students; this ensures students get the attention they deserve. Course material is presented by the most unsurpassed industry individuals together with Lee Burger, holding BSc Larch (UP), BL Hons (UP) and ML Prof (UP) degrees in Landscape Architecture and active S.A.C.L.A.P. member. We are one of only a few institutions to continue adopting a bilingual approach to education. We aim to offer students ample opportunity to steer their careers with theoretical knowledge as well as a technical background, continually assessing student progress to uphold the highest quality of education available. We stive for students to embrace every form of what we stand for: “designing gardens for life…” Design assessments, moderated by professionals, assure that we only put our best in the marketplace, and also give you an indication of how you are doing and what is expected from a well-rounded prospective landscaper. Students who uphold a good standard of work may now also register with the guild of landscape design in South Africa.

For the serious Designer.
1-year, Morning or Evening course...

Our 1-year comprehensive courses are focussed on the two core competency fields of outdoor spaces: design and technical, each containing necessary subjects and practical components in a carefully orchestrated arrangement. Each subject is offered as a complete series with unique assignments relating to each subject to help students apply what they have learnt. It is suitable for anyone, no matter your age or background knowledge of garden design you have. Once all subjects are completed students can achieve a credential of achievement or excellence. The South African Guild of Garden Design now also welcome our students to register after completion of studies to add a range of benefits to their new career or business. Our courses are orientated to give students content and learning experiences only available through us with content that is current as well as internationally and locally applicable. Students can choose between morning or evening courses starting February or July each year. Whether it’s for pleasure or to become a designer of outdoor spaces, you now have courses that comfortably fits into your schedule and becomes a credential in garden design.

Study times and payment plans:
Study Mornings or Evenings

All our class-attending courses share the same content allowing students to study one morning or one evening a week with additional one on one appointments and voluntary creative sessions and outings to further enhance their studies and create memorable experiences that suits your schedule during private school terms. We use a unique study method that suits the widest variety and types of learners and we have developed our course based on the latest research in the international educational approach to help students master what they learn in the shortest amount of time possible.

Start February or July

A one-year comprehensive course in both morning or evening format starts every February and every July. The theory of courses is presented over the course of one year during private school terms as per the year calendar. We allow students to be the master of their own time because each student has different demands on their time, thus assignments and projects can be handed is as they are completed provided the total period of study does not exceed one year.

Payment options.
R32 749.00

R5 749 deposit and R27 000.00 before the end of first month of study.

Three payments of R11 200.00 (R283.66 Admin fee per payment).

R3 449 deposit and nine monthly payments of R3 449 payable before the 28th of each month (R174.10 Admin fee per payment).

We are all for a green future...

To ensure we teach as sustainably as possible, all course notes are provided digitally: online to download or on your portable drive. Prices exclude stationery. Missed a class? No problem. You can easily stay on schedule with our distance learning version of that class and contact your lecturer when you get back. Want to get even more out of your passion? Join us in our one on one approach to assist with your design and broadening your knowledge on studio Wednesdays or sit in on our creative Wednesdays for green industry talks.

The only thing we care about more than designing gardens for life, is our students.