Thanks, Spunky, this looks great. Another Hayward book - I'm happy to have an excuse to buy it and having the class may mean that I'll really read it instead of just looking at the pictures.

See you on campus!
- DtD

Thank you, thank you. I just signed for it.

Thank you. I just signed up too. AND, I already had the text on my bookshelf - I forgot I owned it!

There are some interesting courses offered so I also signed up for the "Buddhism and Everyday Life" course. BNU is now in my favorites folder.

Diane

So, how is this course going? Any comments?

It's very boring and I'm not getting a lot out of it. Anyone else??

It's too bad to hear that. I was thinking it'd be fun to sign up for some of their courses. I'd like to hear more opinions, because my cynical side is saying they just do it to sell more books...

Anyone taken a course they think they got more from than they could have by just reading the book from the library?

lol i signed up for it and i haven't logged in in about 2 weeks... just wasn't all that interesting... I like the book though.

It was mis-labelled. It should have been called something like "flower gardens for beginners." I've learned more in any given hour spent on this forum, or just reading design books, than in the course.

The instructor did not refer to the book at all, btw. The book itself is fine, though not Hayward's best.

How funny. I've checked that book out the library before and browsed through it some; but I didn't sign up for the class since I didn't think I could get it checked back out in time, and I already knew that I didn't want to buy it. I liked Tim Newbury's Garden Design Made Easy better of the two. It's not perfect either, but it has some very nice illustrations of some of the concepts involved.

That's pretty bad when the instructor doesn't even refer to the book at all, though. I was expecting reading assignments. So what did the instructor talk about? The idea that some perennials should be planted in the sun and others in the shade? It sounds like I didn't miss out on much.

Are all the courses that bad? Or has anyone tried any of the others?

Oh, it held such promise, didn't it? Design Your Own Garden in eight easy online lessons. Barnes Noble is in the book-selling business. When they didn't have enough left of the book on which the lessons were originally based, they substituted. Last time it was P. Allen Smith. The lessons were not revised to reflect the differing texts.

You can take the course without buying a book, it's actually somewhat of a stand-alone, and the original book, 'Garden Blueprints' by Becke Davis is still available. Naturally such an offering attracts would-be gardeners who have lots of basic questions. The instructor is patient and gracious about such.

Many of the BN courses are worthwhile as a springboard for personal study, less for direct instruction. The only investment is an optional book and as much time as you're willing to devote. So many take the 'Building Your Own Website' course over and over that they devote a special section to non-beginners.

I am interested in the landscaping course