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Gardening Online Course Comparison: Garden Planning 101 vs. Design your 4-Season Garden Course
Are you wondering… what’s the difference between the “Garden Planning 101” and “Design your 4-Season Garden” course?
This is definitely the most common question I receive! Both online gardening courses include my garden planning worksheets and will discuss the basic principles that will help you to improve your home landscape.
However, the level of depth/detail of the content varies between the two courses.
Garden Planning 101 Course
The Garden Planning 101 course is a great option for beginners who want to dip their toe into the world of garden design and planning. In the 101 course, I will walk you through how to use the garden planning worksheets effectively to plan your own gardens.
I also cover some ideas for combining colors together to make your landscape evoke the right mood or feeling that you’re looking for. So if you like the idea of the garden planning worksheets but need a little extra help to get the most of out of them, this course is for you.
Design your 4-Season Garden Course
The Design your 4-Season Garden course is still suitable for all skill levels of gardeners. But, in this course we take a very deep dive into my “Garden Design Framework.” I’ll teach you how to not only plan your garden space, but how to make it bloom in all 4 seasons.
The trickiest part of gardening is understanding bloom time. So in this course we cover that and how to pick plants that look good together AND bloom in the same season. During this course, I’ll actually be planning a garden bed from start to finish so you’ll get to see a real life example of how I do it, what plants I chose and why I chose them.
If you’re looking for a course with tons of real-life examples and an easy to follow process for selecting each and every plant in your garden, you will love this deep-dive course. This course also includes many bonus resources (view the course page for a full list) and a private Facebook group for 4-Season Gardening students only!
Walkthrough the Design your 4-Season Garden Course
Major Differences between the courses
- Both courses cover topics of the garden pyramid, designing a layered landscape and creating color schemes. The 101 Course is an overview course and will give you enough information to get started. The 4-Season Garden course goes much more in-depth.
- The 101 Course covers pieces of my framework, but it does not teach my entire “garden design framework”. The 4-Season Garden course revolves entirely around mastering my entire framework.
- The 101 Course does not include any information about carrying color throughout all the different seasons. So, if you have a lot of “dead times” in your garden where nothing is blooming, the 4-Season Garden course is a great fit. It covers how to get continuous color and interest in your garden all year.
Gardening Course Comparison Chart
If there’s a specific topic or feature that you’re really interested in, this comparison chart should help to clarify whether it’s covered in the course you’re interested in!
| Item | 101 Course | 4-Season Course |
|---|---|---|
| Price of course | $127 | $297 |
| Payment plan offered? | No | In full or over 3 mo. |
| Garden Planning Worksheets Download | Yes | Yes |
| How to Use the Garden Planning Worksheets | Yes | Yes |
| Downloadable course workbook | No | Yes |
| The Garden Pyramid | Yes | Yes |
| Landscape Layering | Just tips | Yes – extensive |
| Creating Color Schemes | Yes | Yes – extensive |
| Researching Plants Online | Yes | Yes |
| Seasonal color and interest | Just tips | Yes – extensive |
| Garden Design Framework | No | Yes |
| Garden bed layout designs | No | Yes |
| Plant identification guide | No | Yes |
| Private Facebook Group Membership | No | Yes |
| My Personal Plant Database | No | Yes |
| Design your garden WITH me – see all of my plant choices and thinking along the way | No | Yes |
| Native vs. Invasive Plants | No | Yes |
| Arranging plants in the garden | No | Yes |
| Drawing a Planting Plan (scale drawing) | Yes | No |
How to Purchase a Course
You can purchase the courses online using a credit card to gain instant access and start learning right away! Here are the links to purchase each of the courses:
Wrapping Up
I hope this helps to clarify the differences between the two online courses. If you have any additional questions, please contact me and I’m happy to help.
-Amy
