You can read books and scroll socials, but gardening really is one of those skills best learned with a little guidance. Having a teacher — someone who’s trialled, failed, and grown again — makes the process far less daunting and far easier to get started.
Whether you’re hoping to grow a few herbs on the balcony, start a backyard veggie garden, or understand the bigger picture of permaculture and sustainable food systems, there’s a course to match.
Here are some of the best beginner-friendly garden courses in Australia.
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1. Grow It Local
Grow It Local is part course, part community. Membership gives you seasonal heirloom seed deliveries curated by Paul West, with step-by-step video guides from expert gardeners like Costa Georgiadis.
There’s also plenty of support: live and on-demand workshops, monthly Q&A sessions, and unlimited access to an “Ask an Expert” service. With more than 40,000 members across the country, it’s a great way to learn the basics while connecting with other home growers.
2. Milkwood
Milkwood has been teaching permaculture and home-scale food growing since 2007, starting from a small tin-shed classroom on a family farm in New South Wales. These days their courses reach students worldwide, with a focus on practical skills that build resilience at home.
Beginners can start with free guides on veggie gardening and permaculture. For those ready to go further, Milkwood runs short online courses on mushroom gardening and growing on logs, alongside longer mentored programs such as the 12-week Permaculture Living course and Organic Vegetable Gardening.
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3. Sprout School by Chloe Thomson
Horticulturist Chloe Thomson — best known for Bean There Dug That — created Sprout School to help new gardeners get confident from the start. The online course opens a few times a year and covers the fundamentals: setting up your patch, soil care, watering, and seasonal planting.
Her teaching style is relaxed and encouraging, like getting advice from a friend who happens to know exactly what’s going on in your garden.
Between enrolments, her YouTube channel and social media are a goldmine of tips for growing in Australian conditions.
4. CERES
CERES in Melbourne is best known as a community environment park, but it also runs one of the most diverse adult learning programs in the country. With more than 70 topics across gardening, cooking, craft, and sustainability, there’s a steady calendar of one-day workshops and multi-week courses.
For beginners, the Organic Vegetable Growing class is a good entry point. Those wanting more depth can take the Complete Urban Farmer program, a 12-week course covering food growing, animal care, composting, and community resilience. You’ll also find shorter workshops on wild food foraging, bushfoods, fermentation, and therapeutic horticulture.
5. In My Patch – Grow Your Patch
In My Patch is run by Sarah, a gardener who’s built a huge social following by making food growing feel simple and fun.
Her online course Grow Your Patch is designed for beginners who’ve struggled to get results so far. It covers the basics — soil, planting, and seasonal care — in a supportive, step-by-step format, with Sarah’s encouraging style making it easy to stay motivated.
