by Holly Chapman | 17 Jul 26 | Garden Design, News
The London College of Garden Design (LCGD) has announced the launch of the Nigel Dunnett Planstmanship Bursary to support enrolling students.
The bursary, supporting students taking the Certificate in Plantsmanship course, will start in September 2026. It has been established to celebrate the outstanding contribution of Professor Nigel Dunnett, who passed away earlier this year.
Dunnett taught at the college from 2013, and played a significant role in inspiring a generation of garden designers and horticultural professionals through his expertise in planting design and ecological horticulture.
Set up with the support of Dunnett’s family, the bursary will help students as they endeavour a course that explores basic plant biology and taxonomy, identification skills and a plant’s role in ecosystems. It also covers seasonality, habitat and best practices for sustainable planting – helping students develop a deeper understanding of plants, their diversity, and an appreciation of their unique characteristics.
Led by Richard Wilford, the course will teach the essential skills, knowledge and techniques of plantsmanship.
Andrew Fish Tomlin, director of environmental design at LCGD, comments on the announcement:
“The launch of the Nigel Dunnett Plantsmanship Bursary reflects the College’s ongoing commitment to nurturing the next generation of skilled, knowledgeable and environmentally aware garden and planting designers.”
The announcement comes as LCGD and its students celebrate graduation ceremonies today.
by The Pro Landscaper Team | 11 Jun 26 | From the Mag, Garden Design, Long Reads, News
Horticulturalist Richard Wilford discusses taking on the Certificate of Plantsmanship’s course leader role at the London College of Garden Design.
What will you bring to the role of course leader for the Certificate of Plantsmanship?
The course is based and taught at Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, which I know very well having worked there for 37 years.
On top of lectures, we will go out into the gardens quite a lot and look at the plants we’re talking about with the students. We also have a great line up of tutors and lecturers. I helped put them together last year, and my first job was to get those same tutors lined up again for this autumn.
Why should students choose this course?
It’s aimed at two groups of people. There are the students that want to become garden designers where it’s a way to expand their plant knowledge. The 10-week course goes through all of the different plant groups using people who are experts in their field so students build up a great knowledge which can help with their designs.
The other group are those are passionate about plants. It’s not purely aimed at those wanting to become professionals – it’s aimed at anyone who is interested in plants.
What do you hope to achieve while teaching this course?
Now that I’ve retired from Kew, the course enables me to keep contact with the industry. I get to talk to the different tutors; I could even attend various lectures that I’m interested in to learn a bit more myself.
Overall, keeping that contact with the horticultural and design industry is my initial motivation for doing it.
What expertise have you picked up from Kew that you can relay to your students?
After 37 years, I did a whole range of jobs all within horticulture. I started off looking up the bulb collections and got quite an extensive bulb collection in pots. That has become my speciality, really.
Then I went on to broaden my role and did more on perennials, shrubs and different types of horticulture and plants.
The last12 years I was head of garden design, so I can apply the knowledge that I’ve built up over the years. I’m continuing that role and using the knowledge I’ve got and the knowledge of other people that can be applied to other gardens or garden designs.
What do you love most about Kew?
So much. It’s the variety of plants. In one place, you get to see so many different things. I love the seasons and how they change and going back to Kew to see how my designs have developed and matured is really good to see.
Certificate in Plantsmanship
Running from September to December, the course completed its first year in 2025. To find out more about this year’s course: lcgd.org.uk/certficate-plantsmanship.
Read Pro Landscaper’s June issue.
