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Your garden design career, and earning opportunities

  • “Professional garden design in its entirety, in one year. It is tough but you come out of it confident to take on even the most complicated project, and enjoy it.”


    Sarah Naybour, RHS Gold Medallist

As an OCGD graduate, your garden design career starts with an advantage. Our reputation works in your favour.

Oxford College graduates are widely regarded as the most employable garden and landscape designers in the country.

What does that mean in practical terms?

  • High-value clients want to hire you
  • You can charge professional fees right from the start

And don’t forget, we act as your mentors during your first year as a professional. We help you set up the business, and we work with you on your first projects.

  • “This diploma went well beyond my expectations and opened my mind and my heart to the beginning of a new adventure!”


    Brian Dove, Mauritius

How much can you earn as a professional landscape designer?

You should expect to design 3 gardens during your first year in business. For each garden, depending on its size, you can charge a design fee of between £6,000 and £10,000.

In the second year, you’ll probably design 6 gardens.

In year three, you may reach 12 gardens.

After 3 years as a sole trader, it’s not unrealistic to expect a turnover of £80-100K per year.

Compared to other garden design colleges…

Almost without exception, our competitors promise their graduates an apprenticeship work placement.

Just for the record, the starting salary as an apprentice is £18-23K per year.

As an OCGD graduate you start out as a professional garden designer — not someone else’s apprentice.

Put simply, compared to an apprenticeship, you could earn a year’s salary with just one project.

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