This is a beginners course on understanding elevations and contours and how they impact garden design. Having an understanding of how to work with slopes and uneven ground will give your designs more interest and open doors to your own creativity. It will enable you to convey, discuss and explain your ideas to a much fuller extent to clients, family and landscape contractors - it will give you a starting point to talk with confidence about your ideas.

We'll begin with the basic concept of contours and topographic maps, watersheds and simple contour manipulation. This course is filled with exercises that will grow more complex as you move deeper into the different Sections. By the end of this course you'll have a much better understanding of contours and how to use different elevations to your advantage. The last Section will cover field procedures for when you want to survey and create your own contour map of a site and build your design onto it. Overall, this is a practical course in simplified grading for garden designers, contractors and homeowners.

WHAT THIS COURSE IS NOT: This is not a course in engineering. While the methods and concepts are basically the same you will need to realize your own limits and when you should hire professional help from surveyors, engineers and general contractors.