Landscape And Garden Design Blog » Duncan Heather

Oxford College of Garden Design 2011 Student Exhibition

Svend Rumbold — Thu, 30 Jun 2011 13:16:02 +0000

A couple of overdue errands in Oxford provided the perfect excuse to visit the Oxford College of Garden Design 2011 Student Exhibition yesterday. It was a great opportunity to catch up with people I hadn’t seen in a while, and it’s always interesting to see how a new crop of garden designers measure up .

2011 Student Exhibition

Several students’ work was of an exceptional standard, relative even to the high level that has come to be expected from the OCGD (this is a postgraduate level course, in contrast with most other diploma courses). At the risk of being a bit unfair to her fellow students, my “one to watch” for the future is Sophie Dixon.

Duncan Heather and external examiner Vincent Marley (Writtle College) compare notes.

Duncan Heather, OCGD Principal, is due to take a one year sabbatical from face-to-face teaching, to focus on the new OCGD interactive on-line diploma course. The new course, which covers almost all the same material as the traditional classroom version (garden history and the thesis are omitted, as it’s not strictly a postgraduate course), looks like a very practical and cost-effective (but no less intensive) option for those wishing to pursue a career in garden design. The next course starts 30th September 2011.

(Both Svend Rumbold and Alex Lehne, respectively the founding director and German affiliate of Rumbold-Ayers landscape designers, studied under Duncan Heather and graduated from the OCGD PGDip course with distinction.)

“My Garden School” goes Live!

Svend Rumbold — Mon, 04 Apr 2011 16:53:24 +0000

This may be the news you’ve been waiting for……. John Brookes MBE, who is widely considered to be one of the most influential garden designers of the 20^th Century, is just one of the renown experts who have teamed up with Duncan Heather (5-times RHS Gold Medal winning Principal of the Oxford College of Garden Design) and Elspeth Briscoe (former e-Bay and Skype director), to create My Garden School.

Duncan Heather

Elspeth Briscoe

My Garden School is the world’s first online school for gardeners, and it went live yesterday 3rd April 2011. A whole host of short courses are available, and – perhaps this is what’s so special – course assignments are actually marked by the tutors, so you get real feedback from the experts. Check back as the year progresses, as more courses are being added all the time.

MyGardenSchool Introduction from MyGardenSchool on Vimeo.

I can’t help thinking this is a really great idea. After all, how else could you access expert tuition wherever you are in the world? And you can even ask specific questions and get expert replies, too.

….and Good Luck to Duncan and Elspeth

Sculpture in the Garden

Svend Rumbold — Fri, 29 Oct 2010 19:35:52 +0000

I’m hoping to be able to attend Jilly Sutton’s forthcoming masterclass at the Oxford College of Garden Design, on the 11th November. The OCGD masterclasses are great opportunities to hear first-hand from internationally renown experts, and attendance is not just limited to current students and alumni. Last year I was disappointed to miss the legendary John Brookes, but Duncan Heather did post an excerpt on his blog – it’s well worth a look.

The Architect - Jilly Sutton

I’m particularly looking forward to this one. I feel Jilly’s work has a kind of softness in it’s beauty which is rarely found in contemporary sculpture: she usually works in wood, and many of her subjects are faces – with soft, gentle features. It takes a rare skill to bring out the natural lines of wood grain and combine it with the subject so successfully.