WSA Tutor John-Paul Oliver

Garden Design

I get excited about outdoor spaces that work well for people and look beautiful.

As a young gardener with a passion for visual art, I spent many hours moving plants around trying to get my arrangements to look right.

It was a revelation when, while training in  landscape design, I discovered that I could apply the same compositional concepts I used in my artwork to my garden designs.

These days I approach everything from arranging pot-plants, to designing courtyards or organizing swathes of perennials, using these design fundamentals.

I firmly believe that anybody can learn to use these basic skills to great effect in their own outdoor areas.

As a career educator, I know that successful learning is built on successful experience. Therefore I have designed a course that introduces students to some fundamental techniques, and then provides manageable challenges that build creative confidence.