New Zealand Diploma in Landscape (Design)

Summary

Turn your creativity and love of plants into a fulfilling career in landscape design. In this diploma, you’ll develop the essential skills to design green spaces that are beautiful and functional.

A career in landscape design includes creating gardens and landscapes that bring joy to people’s lives. It blends creativity, horticulture, technology and business acumen to design and construct gardens for a range of clients, uses and settings, always with a strong focus on sustainability and enhancement of ecological value. This is a career choice that can feed your passion for design, plants and creating outdoor environments to be enjoyed by all.  You can work in the sunshine, surrounded by greenery, doing something you’re really passionate about.

What you’ll learn:

The New Zealand Diploma in Landscape (Design) has recently been revamped as a nationwide programme, and Unitec is offering this programme, which continues our 30+ years of providing premier landscape design programmes in Aotearoa. You’ll learn how to develop designs that respond to site conditions and client briefs – and plus other knowledge and skills, including:

• How to present your design vision and ideas clearly using various methods – like hand-drawing, computer-aided design (CAD) software and other graphic and visual communication techniques.
• Build your knowledge of plants and materials – so you can confidently create combinations for a range of environmental conditions.
• How to prepare planting plans for implementation and ongoing maintenance.
• How to design and draw constructed elements.
• Develop project and relationship management skills – communicate with clients professionally and work effectively with contractors and design colleagues.

Highlights

• Nationally recognised qualification with input from the Garden Design Society of New Zealand. This means that the skills you’re developing are what employers in the industry are looking for.
• ​Learn in a park-like campus – a great environment for plant identification and studying landscape conditions.
• Access to our high-tech CAD facilities for technical plans and models.
• Industry-connected teaching team – learn from and work with highly-regarded lecturers who are involved with key industry organisations.
• Cross-credit into further study – once you’ve graduated, you can move straight into work or apply to study at a higher level for the Bachelor of Landscape Architecture.
• Flexible study – part time options available.

Career Options

• Garden centre design consultant,
• Garden journalist,
• Gardener,
• Landscape draftsperson,
• Landscape maintenance manager,
• Landscape technician,
• Landscaper,
• Plant consultant,
• Residential landscape designer

Annual Tuition Fees

Domestic/NZ students

$8,300

(Approximate fees only - includes GST but excludes the Compulsory Student Services Fee (CSSF) levy. Your final study costs depends on a number of factors including the courses you select to study. View options for funding your study and fees-free eligibility)

International students

$26,415 (NZD) (approximate fees for 120 credits) Save upto $2,000 (NZD) with Unitec International Study Grant 2026.Terms and conditions apply.

Semester Dates

Sem 1 2026: 23 Feb – 28 Jun

Sem 2 2026: 20 Jul – 22 Nov

For course and class timings, refer to the specific course webpage.

For StudyLink purposes, please ensure your application states your earliest course start date.

Downloads and resources

Programme regulations - New Zealand Diploma in Landscape (Design) Student regulations Order a personalised brochure Scholarships and awardsStudent LifeFor Māori studentsFor Pacific studentsFor International students