With new courses launching throughout the year, Fine Gardening Online Courses help you make the most of your landscape. Our roster of courses from gardening's most trusted instructors are sure to help you create inspired, thriving outdoor spaces that are beautiful, resilient and a joy to be in.
Questions about a Fine Gardening course?
Trees are a big investment. This isn’t only because they often have a hefty price tag, but also because they take up a lot of garden real estate and aren’t plants that you’ll be able to readily relocate. When choosing a tree, it’s important to make sure it performs in all four seasons. It shouldn’t just have lovely spring blooms and decent fall color. It should also have winter interest and other noteworthy traits that shine when it’s not at its peak. And a tree should be largely pest- and disease-free, with low needs when it comes to care. After all, who wants to invest in a plant that will require 50 years of high maintenance? Woody plant expert Paul Cappiello understands these requirements well. As executive director for the Yew Dell Botanical Gardens in Crestwood, Kentucky, he is constantly evaluating the pros and cons of trees. And on his plant travels around the world, he’s always keeping an eye out for trees that are exceptional in myriad ways. For this presentation, Paul reached out to several of his horticultural friends and colleagues to provide you with a list of incredible trees that you will never regret planting. Whatever you choose, it will be one of the best garden investments you’ll make.
| Paul Cappiello is executive director of Yew Dell Botanical Gardens in Crestwood, Kentucky. Paul is a woody plant expert, frequent Fine Gardening contributor, and author of Dogwoods, the definitive guide on North America’s most beloved tree. When Paul isn’t giving lectures across the country, you’ll find him traveling extensively to the world’s most incredible gardens. And his wit almost surpasses his horticultural knowledge. |  |
Many modern landscapes are small. The amount of space we have to garden is shrinking, as people want the blend of suburban life along with the conveniences of city living. Even where space might be available, a lot of avid gardeners still have other interests and obligations, leaving less time to cultivate a large plot. When space and time are at a premium, turning to small shrubs can be the answer. In this webinar, Mark Weathington, director of the acclaimed JC Raulston Arboretum in North Carolina, will share some of his top shrub picks for creating diversity, interest, and excitement where space is limited and every plant must earn its place in the garden.
| Mark Weathington is the director of the JC Raulston Arboretum at NC State University. He earned undergraduate degrees in both horticulture and sociology and a master’s degree in horticulture from Virginia Tech. He has served as director of horticulture for the Norfolk Botanical Garden and horticulturist for the Atlanta Botanic Garden. Mark travels extensively searching for new plants to diversify the American landscape. His explorations have taken him to China, Taiwan, Japan, Ecuador, Europe, Mexico, New Zealand, and throughout the United States. Mark writes and speaks on a variety of topics in horticulture. He is the author of Gardening in the South: The Complete Homeowner’s Guide from Timber Press. He has been published in Horticulture, Carolina Gardener, American Nurseryman, and VA Gardener magazines as well as The Mid-Atlantic Gardener’s Book of Lists. |  |
How do you begin the process of designing or refining your own gardens, especially when there are so many things that you need to take into consideration? In this class, award-winning UK garden designer Annie Guilfoyle will guide you through the elements that make for a successful design and show you how to develop a garden that really suits your taste and lifestyle. This webinar will focus on how to use sketching and observation as tools to develop your technique. The process of designing your space should be fun, according to Annie, so she’ll share insights for how to develop your style using the influences of things you really like, such as textiles, art, and architecture. There will be plenty of suggestions on how to start your design process and gather inspiration—and, of course, we will touch on those oh-so-important plants. *If you are interested in classes similar to this, please join us for a three-part course, Garden Ideas That Work, which will offer a deeper dive into the garden design process. This unique set of classes will be taught by a trio of renowned UK landscape designers.
| Annie Guilfoyle is an award-winning designer and an RHS Chelsea Flower Show Silver Medal winner. After studying horticulture at Capel Manor College in Enfield, Middlesex, she earned a BA Honours Degree in garden design from Middlesex University. Annie combines running a successful garden design consultancy with lecturing and writing on the subject. Annie’s design work has featured on several television programs, including Small Town Gardens on the BBC. For 18 years Annie was the director of garden design at KLC School of Design at Hampton Court Palace, Surrey, where she was instrumental in establishing the highly acclaimed garden design courses. Many of Annie’s students have gone on to become award-winning designers. As garden course consultant at West Dean College near Chichester, West Sussex, Annie is responsible for the development of the educational program and has developed an educational allotment where students can learn about growing food. Annie also teaches a monthly course called The Art and Craft of Garden Design at Great Dixter House and Gardens. |  |
If you are ready to take your container design to the next level, join us for this course with Barbara Libner, who has been designing stunning containers professionally for over two decades. Barbara will walk you through every step of creating the perfect container as she shares her tips and techniques for better plant combinations, including numerous examples from her own designs and recipes you can follow on your own. Explore the concepts of color, texture, balance, and repetition as you learn to transform your own containers from ordinary to extraordinary. You can view each class on demand and then dive into an online forum where you can share ideas with other course participants and get your questions answered by Barbara herself.
It’s easy to feel helpless in the face of unprecedented drought, water restrictions, and soaring temperatures—but we gardeners are not powerless. With careful planning we can create beautiful, drought-resilient gardens that thrive no matter what the weather may bring. And by applying water-conservation techniques in our backyards, we not only lessen our dependency on supplemental water but also help to preserve and protect natural waterways downstream. In this online course, you will learn how to make the most of rainfall by implementing strategies that keep rainwater on-site. You will discover ways to minimize the need for supplemental irrigation while building drought resiliency in the landscape. The lessons learned will give you the confidence to create sustainable spaces in your yard, whether you are landscaping a newly built house or renovating an older garden.
Starting plants from seed opens a world of possibilities to gardeners of all skill levels. Many vegetables, annual flowers, and even perennial plants can be started from seed using a few basic supplies and easy-to-master techniques. This can be an economical way to fill garden space and enjoy a much wider variety of plants than you could find in any nursery. In this course, horticulturist Niki Jabbour will share tips and tricks from her decades of starting seeds. After covering the basics, she will delve into more advanced topics such as timing and stratification. Participants will learn about which tools and supplies the pros recommend to make seed-starting easier, and how to set up a simple DIY lighting system. Build your gardening skills and enjoy the satisfying feeling of growing plants from scratch with this fun, fast-paced course.
You’ll get advice on:
Shade is one of the largest challenges facing home gardeners—especially the novice and inexperienced—but even seasoned gardeners can struggle with it.
In this immersive online course, you will learn how to make the dark areas of your yard shine. Instructor Ed Lyon started his journey into ornamental gardening almost 30 years ago. Across that expanse of time, he owned four properties—all with shaded areas—so he was compelled to get serious about addressing shade issues to create display beds. He also became passionate about helping to educate other gardeners about succeeding in the shade.
Can plants really save the planet? The presenters of this three-part course think so. with Richard Hawke, Sue Milliken, Kelly Dodson, and Kelly D. Norris
Join us as we take a deep dive into the complex and sometimes controversial gardening topic of sustainability. This on-demand lecture series features four separate classes related to the overall theme. Each highly engaging session is modeled after a college course and is taught by a leading expert in the field. With each class you’ll receive not only in-depth instruction but also informative handouts to help you understand and visualize the concepts being discussed. Each class is offered on-demand, so you can view it at your leisure. Topics that will be covered include:
The landscape is important for any home. It should invite, guide, and welcome friends and guests. It should accentuate the home and its key architectural elements and, ideally, hide its flaws. To create such a space requires detailed planning and informed design decisions. In this in-depth course, professional landscape designer Courtney Olander will illustrate how to use basic design strategies to create a front yard that is fun and functional, a space that not only makes you smile when you arrive but also adds value to your home. Sign up now!
Courtney will walk you through her design process and offer professional advice on how to create thoughtful gardens from the ground up, spaces that are inspiring, inviting, and unique to you and your home. Her course will help you master basic landscape design principles.
Courtney will share past projects, case studies, and plenty of before and after images and stories of successful transformations. You’ll come away with a solid understanding of basic garden design principles and be able to apply them to any situation. You'll also gain the perspective you need to distinguish between the tasks you can do yourself and those that require a professional.
There is a Q&A section in the discussion forum where you can ask questions. Courtney will be checking regularly for posts and will answer questions in the forum. She also will host a live Q&A session at the end of the course.
All Access members get more
Sign up for a free trial and get access to ALL our regional content, plus the rest of the member-only content library.
Already a subscriber? Log in
