We are lucky to have welcomed students from the UK, Australia, Austria, Bahrain, Brazil, Canada, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Japan, Lithuania, Mexico, Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Russia, South Korea, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, USA. Here are some of our testimonials from graduates and students
We would love you to follow us on our Instagram account @theenglishgardeningschool where we share news from the school and photos of Sandhill Farm House through the seasons. If you are posting about the school please do tag us!
The course totally exceeded my expectations. I learnt such a lot. Fantastic teaching
Student - Gardening for Beginners 2023
The sense of accomplishment from where we all started and what the class achieved together was very rewarding.
Graduate - Garden Design Diploma 2022
Thank you very much for this amazing year. It’s had been a fantastic one. A real revelation for me or more exactly, a confirmation that the horticulture, the garden could be my future.
Graduate - Good Gardening Diploma 2020
The course has been a brilliant way of transitioning careers. Following the process of the course has been rewarding and satisfying.
Student - Distance Learning 2021
I feel incredibly lucky to have picked the English Gardening School as my proper introduction into gardening. I couldn’t have chosen a better course. I have enjoyed every single minute of it and I've been inspired to further my gardening journey.
Graduate - Good Gardening Diploma 2022
I'm extremely grateful for what I've learned while taking the class. Not only did it help me understand how to work with the property we own better than we were, but it's clued us in on how we may want to move forward and we'll both be forever thankful for that.
Student USA - Distance Learning 2022
The course was fantastic and has set me so many goals. Rosemary and Ben shared both their vast knowledge, their gorgeous gardens and their garden secrets and handy hints. So valuable.
Student - Gardening for Beginners 2022
I especially liked your very personal and individual approach to your students which I consider to be one of the major advantages of the English Gardening School. The tutorial feedback was always really supportive and an incentive for me to go on and improve things. I can really recommend the school and this course
Student Austria - Distance Learning 2012 & 2021
The course has been tremendous. The materials are clear, well presented and easy to follow, with detailed and thorough reviews of submitted work. The process for submitting assignments has been straightforward and allows you to work at your own pace. I think the course is an excellent grounding in garden design.
Student - Distance Learning 2023
It gave me a lot of confidence to go from being slightly overwhelmed to being joyfully productive.
Graduate - Garden Design Diploma 2022
I enjoyed the course a lot and I am very inspired for my own project
Student Germany - Gardening for Beginners 2021
I am so pleased I came on the course. Challenging at times, but very rewarding. I have learnt so much and the tutors made us feel very welcome.
Graduate - Garden Design Diploma 2020
I just wanted to let you know how much I enjoyed the Beginners’ Course. It was super! Very informative and inspiring.
Student - Gardening for Beginners 2022
Studying garden design at the English Gardening school 25 years ago was one of the best things I ever did. I already had landscaping experience which combined well with the huge range of design skills I learnt at the EGS to give me the confidence to set up a design and build business.
JOE SWIFT - Joe is a well-known UK garden designer, writer and broadcaster, winning Gold at Chelsea 2012 and has recently completed an award winning London Pocket Park with Dame Zandra Rhodes. Joe has been presenting BBC Gardeners World since 1998, hosts the RHS Chelsea flower show as well as other gardening programmes and writes regularly for the Times and Gardeners World magazine.
I can design a garden! What good fun and great company from day one, a real joy.
Graduate - Garden Design Diploma 2022
I thought it was a very thorough course and the way it took me by the steps of doing a real assignment, was very informative and made me think things through in the right order. I have learned a lot. Having a deeper knowledge of plants before you start the course is also helpful.
Student Sweden - Distance Learning 2020
I absolutely loved the course.
Graduate - Garden Design Diploma 2022
I’m very happy that I decided to study with the English Gardening School. I’m only half way through the course and already, I feel as if I have learned so much. Thank you. It really has made a huge difference to me and has opened both my eyes and my mind.
Student - Distance Learning 2021
Your course materials are very well organized. The information is so informative and guides the student through the different stages of gardening and how to approach these stages. Thank you for giving me the knowledge that I need to care for my garden and the desire to continue to learn!
student USA - Distance Learning 2022
A very enjoyable and informative course.
Student - Gardening for Beginners 2021
I have enjoyed every minute of it and have learnt so many unexpected skills. I am confident I will be able to continue to create the loveliest garden I can.
Student - Distance Learning 2021
The course has been invaluable as I feel more knowledgeable about plants and more confident in my gardening. I've raved about it to all my friends!
Graduate - Good Gardening Diploma 2020
The course was very well structured and I have learned so much. I have no doubt it will be hugely beneficial in developing my garden design side of the business.
Student - Distance Learning 2022
Such a wonderful course. I hugely enjoyed it and am spurred on to learn even more!
Student - Gardening for Beginners 2022
I really enjoyed all the course work and relish learning new skills! Overcoming the fear of putting into practice all that we learnt in class and actually coming away with a design, unbelievable!
Graduate - Garden Design Diploma 2022
It has completely changed my career and I can't thank you all enough for a wonderful 3 months!
BYRON THOMAS - Garden Design Diploma 2015 Byron is a landscape designer and plantsman based in London.
I am really enjoying the course, I am learning so much and I am looking forward to changing very many things in my garden in the future!
Student - Distance Learning 2022
The course has been hugely enjoyable and I'm looking forward to seeing where it takes me next.
Student - Distance Learning 2020
I have thoroughly enjoyed the course and learnt so much both in class and during our wonderful garden visits.
Graduate - Good Gardening Diploma 2022
An inspirational course, practical and relevant delivered by lecturers with a wealth of practical experience enabling students to get the most out of their gardening
Ed Flint - Head Gardener at a private family garden on the Kent / Sussex borders
I really enjoyed taking this course and learned a lot about gardening design and about plants
Student Belgium - Distance Learning 2022
The course is very comprehensive and challenging. The suggestions as to how to set aside time and work through the material were helpful. The order of the material in each of the chapters makes perfect sense. I only wish I had done the course 10 years ago
Student Canada - Distance Learning
A truly enjoyable few days. I acquired an immense amount of knowledge and have been putting it into practice
Student - Gardening for Beginners 2021
I did the garden design course in 2018 with Rosemary and I can safely say it changed my life, the teaching, content and structure of the course provided me with the best foundation on which to grow my career and I am happy to say it has gone from strength to strength.
AMELIA BOUQUET - is a garden and landscape designer, winning Silver-Gilt at Chelsea Flower Show 2023 with The Platform Garden a Container Garden designed with fellow EGS alumni Emilie Bausager. Her RHS show garden at Hampton Court Palace flower show 2021, a design in support of Mental Health UK called 'The Communication Garden', won Best Construction and a Silver medal along with extensive coverage on the BBC, featured on BBC Radio 4 and many other publications.
I can’t explain how grateful I am to all of you for helping me grow my garden design abilities and discover a talent I never knew I had. I could not have achieved what I have achieved, without all of your help, guidance and support. Thank you.
Graduate - Garden Design Diploma 2020
I am very grateful for this lovely study. I found the book extremely useful, clear and easy to use and perfect for my future work.
Student - Distance Learning 2020
Thank you for an outstanding course. I enjoyed every minute of it.
Graduate - Good Gardening Diploma 2022
Thanks for my time at EGS. I only wanted to create a beautiful garden for us, but it has quite literally changed my life!
BARBARA BROOKS - Garden Design Diploma 2012 Garden Designer and Consultant
You've done a wonderful job making the course applicable to the world - I was thrilled with all I've learned and am able to put into practice even across an ocean!
Student USA - Distance Learning 2022
I'm extremely grateful for what I've learned from the books and from my tutor and how we may want to move forward and will be forever thankful for that.
Student - Distance Learning 2022
The past year really has been fantastic with EGS and the generosity with time and patience has been invaluable
Graduate - Good Gardening Diploma 2020
How much I enjoyed it and most informative.
Student - Gardening for Beginners 2022
I really feel as if I have achieved something amazing. The English Gardening School has enabled me to open my eyes, learn new things and actually do a little something creative, which I have always wanted to accomplish!
My garden is looking amazing (to me) and I even get comments from other people now when they visit. I am so much looking forward to the One Year Diploma Course and I wanted to say a huge thank you to all of you for making this possible for me.
Student - Distance Learning 2022
The course has been fantastic. You have opened my eyes to a whole new world. I have learnt so much and you have truly inspired me
Graduate - Garden Design Diploma 2022
The English Gardening School gave me the all round introduction to Garden Design that enabled me to start practicing even before the course ended. For the inspirational lectures to take place within the walls of the living encyclopaedia that is the Chelsea Physic Garden made us feel like the luckiest students in the world.
ADOLFO HARRISON MAFA MSGD In 2019 and 2020 his gardens have won him the prestigious Judges Award at the Society of Garden Designers Awards. Adolfo is also co-curator of Cityscapes, working with the UK’s most renowned cultural organisations and designers to encourage innovation and creativity in landscape and horticulture.
I have just completed the beginners gardening course and loved it.
Student - Gardening for Beginners 2021
I have had so much fun with this course. Thank you for a great course.
Student Sweden - Distance Learning 2020
Thank you for a really inspirational and life changing year. I have learned so much and been so fired up with enthusiasm by all the guest speakers.
Graduate - Good Gardening Diploma 2022
I have thoroughly enjoyed the course and discovered what aspects of design I prefer.
Student - Distance Learning 2021
Thank you very much for such high appreciation of my work. I am getting great pleasure studying the art of garden design.
Student Russia - Distance Learning 2020
Thank you for the most wonderful course. It's brought me closer to my garden and completely changed the way I feel about it and the plants in it.
Graduate - Good Gardening Diploma 2020
I have loved being part of the course this year. I have learnt so much and certainly plan to take it into my career ahead.
Graduate - Good Gardening Diploma 2020
Two year-long courses at The English Gardening School changed the direction of my life. The exacting homework, the logs we had to keep, the first-class lectures from the country’s top horticulturists and the many hours of practical work that we undertook with them, inspired us all to do our very best. It laid the foundations for the next half of my life to be centred on plants, on trees and on gardening, all with the greatest of happiness.
GRISELDA KERR - is author of The Apprehensive Gardener, now in its second edition, published by Pimpernel Press in 2019, and translated into Dutch with a French translation in waiting. Her garden in Derbyshire, featured in The Garden Magazine and The English Garden, is open for the NGS and to groups by appointment.
I have been inspired by you beyond words. I’m so glad I took the leap to study at your school it has been absolutely wonderful.
Student - Advanced Planting Design 2021
The one-year design course at the English Gardening School was a watershed moment for me. The course was stimulating and totally professional with equal attention paid to the inspirational design lectures and the very practical nuts and bolts of design techniques. Standards were high and the course work was challenging but the rewards were great in terms of empowerment. In the end I continued as a writer but with a complete change of subject. As a result of this course, researching the many aspects of gardens, particularly their history and design, become an absorbing interest and an inexhaustible source of pleasure that continues to this day.
CAROLINE FOLEY MA has written 13 books including Practical Allotment Gardening and the Allotment Handbook which sold 135,000 worldwide. Topiary Knots and Parterres won the European Garden Book award in 2018. She was editor of Topiarius, journal of the European Boxwood and Topiary Society for 19 years
Your course is like a shining star in my days. It makes me step out of the daily routine and immerse myself into dream about the Garden to Build
Student Lithuania - Distance Learning 2021
Ben is a fabulous, knowledgeable, high-energy teacher. I shall certainly be recommending the course to my friends
Student - Gardening for Beginners 2023
Thank you for all the useful and helpful feedback and also for the encouragement you have given me during my journey through the garden design course. With my coursework serving as a small portfolio, I am excited about the possibilities.
Student - USA 2023
Thank you for a most enjoyable course. Highly enjoyable all round.
Student - Gardening for Beginners 2023
Thank you for the wonderful year. I have enjoyed it and learnt so much as well as meeting the loveliest people. I really do feel the world is now my horticultural oyster!
Graduate - Good Gardening Diploma 2022
The diploma in garden design devised by Rosemary and taught at The English Gardening School has served as an invaluable foundation for my career as a garden designer. Her profound knowledge of both design and planting, conscientiously transmitted to her students has, I am convinced, played a very prominent role in my success.
FREDERIC WHYTE - Frederic works across the UK and in Europe. He has four RHS flower show medals, including one RHS Chelsea gold medal.
The course was thorough & well spaced out. Thank you for the wonderful learning experience.
Graduate - Garden Design Diploma 2020
I just wanted to say a huge thank you to you for the wonderful course. It exceeded expectations... informative and inspiring and to study at Chelsea Physic Garden was a joy
Student - Gardening for Beginners 2021
The course taught me the important elements of garden design and the process of how to approach it. Although it was challenging to me, the textbook was so well written and illustrated.
Student USA - Distance Learning 2024
I've thoroughly enjoyed the course and learnt a lot of new skills, this has given me the confidence to go out and do this for clients.
Student - Distance Learning 2023
My sincere thanks for a wonderful experience with the course.
Student USA - Distance Learning 2020
It was a real pleasure for me. I learned a lot about plants, garden design and drawing but also about designing a garden steps by steps.
Student Belgium - Distance Learning 2022
Thank you so much. We all learnt such a lot and we all loved it.
Graduate - Garden Design Diploma 2023
My time at The English Gardening School opened up another world to design and horticulture. It was an intense course but also the most enjoyable. I started viewing gardens in a completely different way. We had the honour of learning from a portfolio of very knowledgeable and well known figures in the industry who were all masters in their own fields. The school also provided me with the after support once I had graduated.
MANOJ MALDE - is an award winning garden designer, RHS Judge & Ambassador, TV Presenter and Writer. His first garden at the Chelsea Flower Show in 2017 made two front covers and was widely published nationally and internationally.
It was a real pleasure to do the garden design course. I found it very carefully specified as a proficient guide leading through all parts of the design process. Everything very professional and all the marking fair and constructive. I made two projects for my friends along side the course project. I would definitely recommend the school to anyone.
Student - Distance Learning 2020
The level of tutors that I was exposed to was top from the industry…it couldn’t have been better
RUTH WILLMOTT - Multi award-winner who graduated from the School in 2009 with Distinction
Thank you so much for all you have done. It's been such an inspiration and pleasure to learn from you.
Graduate - Garden Design Diploma 2023
The course helped prepare me for a career in horticulture that has allowed me to dive head first into starting my own design studio and basically changed my life. I use skills that I learnt at the English gardening school every day.
EMILIE BAUSAGER - Emilie is an award winning garden designer and artist. Her design style combines eclectic aesthetics influenced by historical references, with a Scandinavian sensibility towards sustainability and nature. Awards include RHS Tatton Park People's Choice award 2021. She won Silver-Gilt at Chelsea Flower Show 2023 with The Platform Garden a Container Garden designed with fellow EGS alumni Amelia Bouquet .
It has been a great pleasure to work with the English Gardening School. I have learned a lot and I will highly recommend it to everyone.
Student Spain - Distance Learning 2022