LCGD Melbourne

LCGD Melbourne Contact information, map and directions, contact form, opening hours, services, ratings, photos, videos and announcements from LCGD Melbourne, Education, Birdwood Avenue, Melbourne.

LCGD Australia offers professional, design-led garden design training delivered both online and in person from our campus in the heart of the Royal Botanic Gardens Victoria, Melbourne Gardens.

When a two-hour Inspo Lecture turns into almost four hours of questions, conversation and shared experience, you know it...
06/09/2026

When a two-hour Inspo Lecture turns into almost four hours of questions, conversation and shared experience, you know it’s been a good one.

This week we welcomed LCGD graduate Sarah McLauchlan back to talk to our students about her experience since graduating and establishing her own successful garden design practice SM GARDEN DESIGNS

What began as an Inspo Lecture became a really open and insightful conversation about working as a garden designer, building a highly successful practice and the things Sarah has learnt along the way. There were plenty of questions from our students, plenty to talk about, and two hours very quickly became almost four.

We loved having Sarah back so much that we’re now looking to include her in our 2027 lecture program.

Some of you might remember Sarah from the career change story we shared earlier this year. It became one of our most popular graduate stories, so we thought it was worth sharing again. We’ll pop the link in the comments for anyone who missed it the first time.

Thank you Sarah for being so generous with your time and experience. We loved having you back!

We’ve been working on something new behind the scenes for quite some time.Something for the professionally plant obsesse...
05/09/2026

We’ve been working on something new behind the scenes for quite some time.

Something for the professionally plant obsessed. The personally plant obsessed. And those who know that the more you learn about plants, the more there is to know.

We’re looking forward to sharing it with you very soon...

Third place one year. First place the next.Not because Hayato completely changed direction, but because he kept developi...
30/08/2026

Third place one year. First place the next.

Not because Hayato completely changed direction, but because he kept developing as a designer.

In 2025, Hayato Shimomura placed third in the LCGD Border Garden Competition at the Melbourne Flower and Garden Show. He returned in 2026 with Tsuchikabe and won first place.

The garden brought together influences from Japan and Australia, with a traditional Japanese-style earthen wall made using Australian red soil at its centre.

What we find particularly interesting is the year between those two results.

Another year of designing. Another year of looking closely at gardens, testing ideas and refining how those ideas are expressed.

Tsuchikabe was recognised by the judges for the strength and resolution of its concept, but Hayato’s story is also a lovely example of something we see throughout garden design: experience accumulates.

You keep looking. You keep learning. Your work changes with you.

Tsuchikabe
Hayato Shimomura Hayato🌳
Winner, 2026 LCGD Border Garden Competition Melbourne Flower & Garden Show
Images of Tsuchikabe by Josephine’s Landscape Photography

There’s so much to love about Michelle’s story.She had built a successful career in law, and she loved the work. But as ...
24/08/2026

There’s so much to love about Michelle’s story.

She had built a successful career in law, and she loved the work. But as her life changed, she began to realise that the way she wanted to work might need to change too.

Gardens had always been part of her life, from childhood nursery trips with her mum and her dad’s morning wander around the garden, to the gardens she later created for herself.

Eventually, something she loved became something she decided to pursue professionally.

Michelle went on to study garden design, where she was awarded our Student of the Year. In the years since, she has built her own garden design practice, Garden Design Studio MK designing gardens for clients across Melbourne.

One of the things we especially love about Michelle’s story is how much of her previous career came with her. Listening to clients, understanding a brief, researching and working through complex problems are all skills she still draws on today, just in a very different setting.

Thank you Michelle for sharing your story with us so openly. We loved this one…And we’re still smiling at the six-minute billing!

For those of us who spend a lot of time thinking about plants, it’s lovely to be reminded that sometimes a flower can co...
19/08/2026

For those of us who spend a lot of time thinking about plants, it’s lovely to be reminded that sometimes a flower can come to represent something much bigger.

For 40 years, the daffodil has been a symbol of hope for Australians affected by cancer. There’s something particularly fitting about a flower that brings colour towards the end of winter, with a new season just around the corner.

Today is Daffodil Day, when people across Australia come together to support those affected by cancer and raise funds for life-saving cancer research.

So today we’re simply adding some yellow to our feed in support. For everyone affected by cancer, the people who love them, and the research we hope will change what comes next. 💛

If you’d like to support Daffodil Day, we’ve added the official Cancer Council donation link >> https://www.daffodilday.com.au/

Botanical names can look complicated. But once you know what some of the words mean, they can be surprisingly descriptiv...
14/08/2026

Botanical names can look complicated. But once you know what some of the words mean, they can be surprisingly descriptive.

grandiflora tells us about a flower. maculata gives us a clue to the markings on a trunk. sempervirens means evergreen, or rather beautifully, always green. officinalis can tell us something about a plant’s history and traditional use.

Once you know what they mean, you start noticing the same words in other plant names too.

For plant people, that’s half the fun. The names aren’t simply something to remember. Often, there’s something in them worth knowing.

Consider this Part 1. We have plenty more.

Images with thanks to:
1&7. Solara by Calibre Gardens captured by Josephine’s Landscape Photography at MIFGS
3. Credit gaelyn / iNaturalist Creative Commons licence.
5. Credit Ross Malloch taken at Stonefields

Garden lighting is often treated as something to think about towards the end of a project, but the more interesting ques...
11/08/2026

Garden lighting is often treated as something to think about towards the end of a project, but the more interesting question is much earlier: what should this garden feel like after dark?

That question changes the design itself. It influences how someone arrives, where they pause, what becomes a focal point and which parts of the garden are left in shadow. Those decisions begin long before anyone starts choosing fittings or deciding where lights should go.

These are exactly the ideas our students explore each year with Gardens at Night™ during their lighting masterclass, where the focus extends well beyond lighting itself and into how a garden is experienced once daylight disappears.

We’ve explored that thinking further in our latest article, What Should a Garden Feel Like After Dark?, including insights from LCGD Director Brent Reid and Stephen Laurence from Gardens at Night.

Read the full article https://www.lcgd.com.au/news/what-should-a-garden-feel-like-after-dark

Images supplied by Gardens at Night:
1. Centred Landscapes
Centred Landscapesors
Inspired Exteriorsn
4.Rubira by Design5-7. Candeo Design KrasovRatioLandscape Design

What if you already had many of the skills to become a great garden designer?Not plant knowledge or technical drawing.Th...
08/08/2026

What if you already had many of the skills to become a great garden designer?

Not plant knowledge or technical drawing.

The human skills.

Listening. Observation. Curiosity. Problem solving.

They’re qualities we see in our students time and time again, regardless of whether they’ve come from healthcare, teaching, business, construction or countless other professions.

It’s one of the reasons there isn’t a typical path into garden design.

Our latest article explores why the skills that matter most often have very little to do with gardens.

🔗 Link in bio.

For more than 25 years, Chris and Jenny have built Merrywood Plants into Australia's leading specialist wholesale espali...
05/08/2026

For more than 25 years, Chris and Jenny have built Merrywood Plants into Australia's leading specialist wholesale espalier nursery.

Each year, our second-year students have the privilege of visiting Merrywood to learn from the people behind some of Australia's finest espaliers.

Espalier is one of gardening's oldest techniques, yet it continues to play an important role in contemporary landscape design. Understanding what's involved in growing these remarkable trees gives students a greater appreciation for the expertise behind every espalier they may one day specify.

A sincere thank you to Chris, Jenny and the entire Merrywood team for continuing to welcome our students each year and so generously sharing your knowledge, experience and passion. Partnerships like these give our students the opportunity to learn from the people shaping our profession every day.

31/07/2026

Some common names need explaining. This isn’t one of them. Look closely and you’ll see exactly how it earned its name.

Address

Birdwood Avenue
Melbourne, VIC
3004

Opening Hours

Monday 9am - 5pm
Tuesday 9am - 5pm
Wednesday 9am - 5pm
Thursday 9am - 5pm
Friday 9am - 5pm

Telephone

+61432197538

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