Learn skills essential for functional garden design that honor the site and meet client needs in this four-session class, held on Thursdays, March 27 through May 1, from 5:30 to 8:30 p.m. Led by Chuck Schnell and Walter Cudnohufsky of Cudnohufsky Associates, this course will cover a different topic or technique focusing on the importance of getting to know the client and site as a basis of effective and appealing design. Essential and easy-to-grasp design principles will be introduced throughout the course, with a form-finding approach to garden design.

Acquire the vocabulary essential for assessing a property’s potential and problems, and the right questions to realize a client’s wishes while avoiding common design mistakes. Learn how to make well-considered and sustainable choices for the elements and materials commonly used in the residential-scale garden. Students will complete an instructor-provided project and take it from creative concept to a completed design plan, including site assessment diagrams, conceptual sketches and schematic drawings. Each class will involve instruction and evaluation of projects in progress. Group discussions and exercises will put theory into action. Students will make a formal presentation at the final class with the primary goal of conveying a coherent design narrative and process leading to proposed solutions.

Chuck Schnell has both a B.A. and M.A. in landscape design. He works in planning and design for Walter Cudnohufsky Associates in Ashfield, MA. He is a recipient of the Garden Club of America McLaren Fellowship to study abroad. He has strong knowledge of ornamental plants, landscape design and construction.

Guest Instructor Walter Cudnohufsky, M.L.A., is a long-time dedicated teacher. Having founded and for 20 years directed the nationally acclaimed Conway (MA) School of Landscape Design, he has honed a reasoned approach to planning design.