Pembrokeshire College garden design students are busy helping with the finishing touches to the new landscaped garden at County Hall as well as developing some new computer aided garden design software that can be accessed on-line and will enable graduates to design gardens globally from Pembrokeshire.

A spokesman for the college commented: "From having discussions with several household names in the field, we believe there is a demand in the market for a flexible computer aided design package for designing gardens similar to what builders use to offer customers a range of options for kitchens and bathrooms.

"Currently the majority of garden design software available is of a very limited quality. We are trying to secure funding to develop our own branded software, which we will then use to train the students and make available to them after they qualify.

"Whilst it is often the expensive one-off gardens that get all the publicity, we are aiming more for the mass market. We know that there is a tremendous market for garden designers in many of the developing countries and this will enable gardens to be designed on-line from Pembrokeshire."

In addition, the students have been assisting Pembrokeshire County Council in the planting of the new landscaped garden in front of the County Hall for its official opening in November. The design will represent the landscape of Pembrokeshire in carpet bedding using indigenous plants.

College student Gill Lewis said: "This is a great opportunity for us to practice what we have been taught. We are very grateful that the county council have had confidence in us to do this."

Anybody interested in taking either a two-year national diploma or part-time OCN unit in garden design should either visit the Pembrokeshire College open evening on Tuesday, November 13, between 5 pm and 8 pm, or contact course enquiries by telephoning 0800 716 236.