Garden Design Masterclass

A good garden starts on paper, with a plan that fits the site, the budget and the hours you really have for upkeep. In this masterclass Claire Donovan teaches the method she uses with clients: read the site, draw it to scale, set the structure, then choose the plants and count them. You finish with a planting plan you can install, not a mood board.

The course follows three California gardens from the first site visit to the first summer after planting: a Pasadena front lawn replaced with a dry garden, a 60-foot mixed border in Sonoma County and a shady courtyard in San Francisco. Drawing lessons are filmed at the table, with the tools and scales Claire uses every day. You learn to measure a yard with two tapes, draw a base plan at ⅛ inch to the foot, size paths and patios, build borders in layers and write a plant list with quantities and costs. Plant palettes for eight US regions carry the method beyond California.

Design takes time, and the course doesn’t pretend otherwise: expect to spend 20⁠–⁠30 hours on your own plan, measuring, drawing and counting plants, over a few weeks. Low upkeep is designed in rather than promised: plants matched to the site, set densely enough to cover the soil, on drip zoned by water need. The course covers planting, paths and small paved areas, but not engineering: retaining walls taller than about 3 feet, major drainage work and anything that needs a permit belong with a licensed contractor.