Join Now
Inside Planting Design Boot Camp, you'll gain the knowledge and confidence you need to create healthy and stylish planting schemes for your garden.
You'll learn the tools and skills you need to design, refine, build, and plant-up your garden, within your budget.
And you'll have the professional support to make sure get it done and get all your questions answered.
I want you to enjoy the process of garden making - as well as the beautiful results.
Join Today -
Doors Close Soon!
Join Now
I always want to take them all home!
But, *reality check* - I can't. And neither can you.
So how do you tell which ones are the best ones, which ones work for you, and which ones are going to be the right ones for creating your dream garden?
How do you choose?
Answer:
You need to have a plan before you go to the garden center.
Creating your own planting plans is what this course is all about
I help my clients and Students with these problems every single day.
And if you're Anything like any them (oR me, TBH), you've probably made some of the most common mistakes in Garden Design Too.
Genus Loci: Ancient Roman for 'Spirit of the Place'. Or, more simply, storytelling. If your garden doesn't have a story, it will not only be boring - but it won't make sense (which could actually lead to a dead garden).
Storytelling will connect you to the garden, and the garden to everything around it. Ensuring your Genus Loci is one of the most important mistakes to fix. In fact, when designing with stories - the more the better. I recommend creating a full blown daytime soap opera.
Let's drop a patio in here.
And this haul of sale plants that "fell" into my car... let's plop them down... somewhere... over there.
Oh and wait - we need a path - um, how 'bout we draw a line from the corner of the patio over to the garage. Shortest distance and all that jazz...
Just drop it in. Right?
WRONG.
(this is a hot mess waiting to happen - Whether it's big garden features or individual plants, you need to have a plan if all the pieces are going to work together. Within Planting Design Boot Camp, you will be guided towards right-sized and right-placed plants that will thrive in your garden. )
Don't make it harder than it needs to be! Building a beautiful design is about creating simple layers.
Layers of layout and hardscaping, layers of story and style and layers of interesting plants and colors and textures. It's the endless permutations of layers that makes a project unique and exciting. My Style Story Framework and Templates will make creating your garden's layers easy.
Growing plants is a skill. Creativity is a skill. And so is design. Skills can be acquired with knowledge, practice and guidance. Don't sell yourself short by hiding behind silly tropes. You can successfully grow things, design your own garden and make it beautiful and I can help you do it.
I promise, this is not garden blasphemy. Garden design is an 7-step process and picking plants is step #5. Skipping steps 1 - 4 will definitely (and I mean always), cause problems.
How does this sound?
Improves with time. **ahem - no other home improvement gets more valuable with time**
your neighbors envy. It's the prettiest on the block & you get tomatoes (or flowers, or whatever cool thing you want to grow)
Provides You with a safe, healthy, outdoor place to spend time with family & friends...
You can create & manage - Because you have a step-by-step system for establishing not only a vision, but an actionable plan.
Is as calming as that sleepy part at the end of a yoga class. It washes over you every time you pull up the driveway.
join the Course NOW
it's all possible inside...
You want a beautiful healthy garden.
You have a new house and garden and no idea where to start.
You'd like to hire a designer, but either can't find the right person, or need a more affordable DIY option.
You've been gardening for years, love plants and know how to grow them, but its all a bit same-old. You need inspiration & ideas, a route to re-design, and a plan put it all together.
You've hired landscape help, but things aren’t exactly as you hoped. Now what?
You just want a straightforward system to plan and build your own amazing garden. ASAP.
ENROLL NOW
Basically...
You have ideas, maybe even too many of them - and need to know what comes first and how to make it all fit.
You dove into that garden head first – but whoa – overwhelm has set in. You need help with design decisions, work planning, smart ideas, costing, and all of it. Pronto.
You're interested in garden design as a profession and want to see if it is good match. (and maybe even need a bit of mentoring?)
You’re looking for a magic bullet - someone to do it for you.
You're happy with the same old same old.
You want instant results. Garden making isn't fast and neither is this course.
This will take a few months to work through (but you have lifetime access!)
This is a course where you take your time, knowing you can come back to any lesson whenever you need.
You have an amazing garden that you love and don’t really want to change.
If you're the queen of the garden tour - I say keep on keeping on...and tag @pithandvigor with pics of your pretty place on Instagram, I'd love to see it!
You don’t want to use a computer to learn, don’t want to stretch yourself & don’t want your thinking challenged.*
ENROLL NOW
On the flip-side...
*But being challenged is one of the best ways to get your creative juices flowing.
"
We now have a scale plan of our home and lot. While I don't have a firm design for the areas I want to landscape I have a start of a plan about how to attractively redesign our front and rear yards. I have been a member of the local Master Gardener group for about 10 years but content about landscape design is not covered. I also feel that I will view garden photos and gardens I visit with a more discerning eye understanding a bit more about style, theme, why the garden works.
Who doesn't love a good makeover?
SUCCESS
STORIES
“
"
My favorite part of the class was seeing my plan evolve from crude shapes to an actual detailed plan. I also really enjoyed the style-finder section. I found it very helpful to get a grasp on what my style actually is, and to put it in both words and pictures. In other words, I learned a lot about myself in the process as well as about garden design. I also liked the interaction with other students going through this same journey. Sharing our issues and ideas, and receiving their feedback was a big plus. I also really like how invested you have been in our success - your guidance has been great!
“
"
This was an awesome class! I enrolled in one of your first design boot camps Rochelle and I find myself using your practices as I tackle yet another area in my garden. If you're thinking about it, take Rochelle's course. She's thorough, easy to follow, offers attention to your "homework"; is truly very inspirational. I should send you an updated picture of my backyard, I think it's been three years now.
“
“
"
I'm a former rocket scientist turned garden designer, author, entrepreneur, TV host and creator of the award winning publication PITH + VIGOR.
I've been making gardens my whole life - professionally for over 18 years. But it wasn't until I'd been professionally practicing garden design for many years that I evolved repeatable strategies that blend science and art and make it much easier to get it right every time. And that is what I will teach you.
WHEREVER YOU LIVE AND WHATEVER YOUR STYLE, I WILL HELP YOU CONFIDENTLY CREATE A GARDEN THAT WORKS AND IS A REFLECTION OF YOU.
Twenty-five years ago, I bought my first house and made my first garden - it was a hot mess.
At first, I was so confident because I'd gardened at the knee of my parents and grandparents all my life. But while I sorta had a handle on backyard plants that grow in Denver, CO and central Montana, I didn't know what I didn't know.
And what I didn't know, was two big things:
1) Anything about the history, art or science of designing gardens &
2) the vastness of the world of horticulture beyond high-altitude USDA zone 3/4.
A couple years later, I followed a job to England, went to the Chelsea Flower Show, had a revelatory experience, and made a radical career change to become a garden designer.
As an American in England, and then back in America - I have a unique perspective on value of British gardening culture.
Do I think we ought to all be building in that lovely classic style?
NOPE! - Absolutely not.
But I do hope that by teaching and enabling you to head off on your own creative journeys of discovery and education that you will, in turn, impart your knowledge to someone else (perhaps a spouse, a neighbor, a child) and in that way, a healthy vibrant garden culture can spread and grow.
Our local communities need to actively cultivate deep roots and connections to our unique landscapes if they are to survive and thrive.
In this time of climate crisis and intense upheaval in our world, we all need to have a better understanding and connection to nature. Good design is satisfying and it will make you a more successful garden maker. With good design, there will be fewer strikes and more home runs - and when that happens, you are more likely to keep going. As you continue, you will become a true steward and caretaker.
Change starts in our own back yards.
I created my courses because I wanted to work with more people (not just the few who can afford a garden designer).
I want to help people who are willing to get some dirt under their nails (not just hand-off their garden showpieces to maintenance gardeners).
Over my career, I've designed hundreds of gardens all over the world for private homes as well as hotels, spas and restaurants.
Now, I want to help you connect with your land so that you can create something amazing.
“
"
“
"
#1 -Foundations
You can't get to the moon without a rocket launcher, a spaceship, and something to make sure you can breathe. Similarly, you can't design and build a garden without a few essential tools. You will:
• Set up and learn to use a few basic design apps to organize your notes, ideas and plans online (and share them so you can get feedback!)
• Make introductions in the Garden Makers Mastermind and meet other garden makers (some are in your area!).
• Learn about Computer Aided Design (CAD) - an optional parallel tract is you want to use digital drawing tools. All CAD lessons are in addition to standard hand drawn methods.
#2 - The Style Story Framework
With the Planting Design Boot Camp's proprietary framework you will:
• Discover, define and document your unique style and create your personal garden style guide.
• Utilize the same design principles used by the pros.
• Cultivate your creative freedom and use storytelling to infuse your design with meaning and history.
• Access over 15 different downloadable style templates you can modify to ensure your garden exudes the essence of you, your place in the world, and your personal tastes.
#3 - Plant Basics
To design with plants you need to understand their needs and what makes them happy.
• Expand your understanding of plants with The Green Thumb Guide.
• Learn why plants fail and how to fix the issues.
• The Soils Primer will widen your knowledge of the hidden half of the garden - the underground.
• Identify what a plant needs just by looking at it - even if you don't know what it is.
• The basics of the secret language of plants (Botanical Latin) and how to use it to your advantage.
• Become a Soils Sleuth and read the characteristics of your land and understand what will work, what won't, and why.
#4 - Putting Plants Together
Using The PDBC Plant Casting Method you will audition plants for your garden and understand which ones you need and how they will work together.
• Designer tricks for fixing existing beds that are almost great, but not quite.
• Cure your garden's multiple personality disorder.
• Understand a range of planting styles (and how to create them).
• Discover and define your own planting style.
• Get confident in pairing plants not only to create dynamic visual appeal, but also healthy maintainable landscapes that are ecologically sound.
#5 -More Plants!
The plant world is vast and you will never know all the plants, but with PDQ plants (yes, that stands for Pretty Darn Quick), and other techniques in this module you can quickly expand your plant palette and get all you new plant knowledge organized.
• How-to quickly find new plants and the plants you need but that you may not know about.
• Establish your own organization system and tips for keeping track of maintenance.
• Jump start your planting plans with downloadable planting style guides.
• Peruse and use an ever expanding series of proven 5-plant design recipes (that can be used worldwide).
• Install your plants so they thrive and achieve your vision.
#6 - Build It!
With plans in place - it is time to build! Will you hire a contractor or DIY? And what will it cost?
• DIY or hire a Contractor? (how to manage both)
• Learn all my best cost saving advice for building.
• Navigate the nursery. Purchase plants and shop like a pro.
• The best tips for translating your plans into an actual garden in the ground.
• Find everything you need (art, plants, furniture, containers, antiques, building materials, fabric and more) with my Little Green Books (i.e. a garden designer's black book of all the best suppliers).
• Book lists, guides and outlets for taking your knowledge even further.
it's all possible inside...
Get all the personal garden design consulting and individual advice you need.
• Ongoing forum support and homework review.
• Meet fellow garden makers (locally and worldwide)
• Monthly Live Q+A calls to get coaching and expert help on your designs - it's like having a garden designer on retainer.
• Bonus Guest Lectures 2-3x per year (discover new and timely topics in garden making)
Your membership to the mastermind is included in this course. Value: $2800
Checklists and a guided manual to conduct your own site assessment. Explore usage, risk, environmental impact. Get to know and evaluate your biosphere Value: $600
Organize and define the layers of story and style in your garden. Workbook & Template libraries will help you tell your style story with plants.
Value: $600
Everything you need to know to turn your thumb green. Value: $400
Drawing Templates & Trace Files - Value: $200
Don't know a hydrangea from a hosta? How to know more plants - fast.
Value: $400
From size guides, cost calculators & quick reference sheets, to my 'Gardenmakers Questionnaire'. Tools that make the job easier and the results better. Value: $300
Learn my proprietary system for orchestrating a planting scheme that is healthy and chic. Value: $800
How to effectively shop the nurseries and online for the best plants.
Value: $200
Tips & tricks for installing your plants and building your garden. Value: $200
How to take your hand drawn plan and use Computer Aided Design to create and manage it digitally. Value: $400
Frequently Asked Questions
(no questions asked)
Continue to spend more time and energy trying to figure garden design out on your own... (and probably not get it right)
Or,
finally have a proven roadmap and Support to create your beautiful outdoor space so you can finally be proud of your house, increase the value of your investment, and ultimately, enjoy the fruits of your labors.
If you've read this far, you have two options:
You're in the right place!
I'm looking forward to meeting you inside!
400+
18
32
02