NEW OFFERING FOR FALL 2025
PLANTING DESIGN COURSE
4 Saturday Sessions: Oct 25, Nov 1, Nov 8, Nov 15, 9am-1pm
NGBH Gardens at Bagaduce Music, 49 South St, Blue Hill
Cost: $240 (Click here to register)
Learn to create thoughtful, layered plantings grounded in design principles, site awareness, and sustainability.
Participants will gain foundational knowledge of design principles, site analysis, plant selection, and long-term stewardship. The course blends theory with practice, guiding students from conceptual “big ideas” to hand-drawn planting plans through immersive activities, discussions, and lectures from experienced professionals. By the end of the course, students will be equipped to create site-specific planting designs that balance beauty, function, and care for the land. Ideal for professionals and home gardeners interested in creating resilient, well-designed gardens that support wildlife and work in harmony with their surroundings.
Instructors
A lifelong gardener, Kathy Kling initially pursued a career in architecture before ultimately returning to her horticultural roots. Trained and practiced as a registered architect for over 30 years, she partnered in a New York City firm specializing in residential projects in Manhattan as well as suburban and rural New England. In semi-retirement, she co-founded The Plantagenet Group, a garden design company, with her sister, designing and supervising gardens across New England and New York City. She completed the Connecticut Master Gardener Program in 2000 and has taken numerous courses at the New York Botanical Garden. For nearly a decade, she managed Sydney Eddison’s garden in Newtown, CT. She also completed a 10-day garden design course with Arne Maynard in the UK and has attended garden symposia and lectures in both the United States and the UK.
Cathy Rees has worked for more than 25 years creating and maintaining gardens while doing ecological consulting for parks, forests, land trusts, and private individuals during that time. Her familiarization with the native flora has inspired the creative use of natives in the garden and the uncultivated landscape. The need to educate others about their native flora, its beauty, mystery and benefit to the ecosystem led her to cofound Native Gardens of Blue Hill. She is currently the NGBH part time Executive Director. Having worked as educator, researcher, and gardener she combines her interests to advocate for gardening as a way to foster resilient landscapes. She holds a BS in environmental design and planning and a MS in ecology. She is a certified National Green Infrastructure Practitioner. She is the author of “Winterland: Creating a beautiful garden for every season” which focuses on garden design that can be enjoyed beyond the growing season.
Course Overview
Session 1: Site Survey and Analysis
This session centers on reading and understanding a site. Students learn techniques to observe, analyze, and experience landscape features including soil, light, topography, and existing vegetation. Students will also learn how to create a scaled base plan. Through hands-on exercises to assess soil and measure the site, participants build the foundational skills to design with place in mind.
Lessons:
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Understanding the context of the site using available digital resources.
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On the ground observing, assessing, and hands-on exploration. Key landscape features to evaluate include topography/drainage, existing vegetation, soil conditions, special habitats, views, site history.
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Creating a plan of the site by measuring and documenting the location of the garden and existing features.
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Transferring the measurements to a scaled site plan.
Session 2: Foundations of Planting Design
This session introduces participants to the fundamentals of ecological planting design—highlighting native plants, soil health, biodiversity, and long-term stewardship. Core design principles are introduced, along with their application in garden spaces. The session concludes with a deep dive into plant characteristics and their functional, aesthetic, and ecological roles in the landscape.
Lessons:
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History of garden design
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Design principles: proportion, balance and scale; line, form and shape; mass/weight, color, texture, focal points, transitions
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Plant characteristics and functions: growth forms and habits, structure, texture, color
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Creating vertical and horizontal layers
Session 3: Concept Development & Plant Arrangement
Participants translate observations into vision, crafting a central “big idea” to guide their designs. Students explore plant layering, spatial organization, massing, repetition, and textural balance. The session also introduces “slow gardening” and the importance of long-term ecological care. The session concludes with a deep dive into native plants for planting design.
Lessons:
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Using plants to facilitate the design based on site conditions
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Applying design principles to the arrangement of plants
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Managing existing vegetation and incorporating it into a plan
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Planning for the long term
Session 4: Planting Plans & Stewardship
In this final session, students integrate all course elements to develop complete, scaled planting plans. The focus includes plant selection, sourcing, sequencing, budgeting, and post-installation care. The session concludes with a design share, where students present their planting concepts and receive peer feedback.
Lessons:
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Researching plants to select site-appropriate plant species
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Developing planting ideas through on-site sketching
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Translating sketches into scaled planting drawings
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Writing a narrative to communicate design intent to contractors
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Estimating material needs and calculating implementation costs
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Drafting a basic maintenance plan (as time allows)
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Sharing planting designs with the class