Making a start
- Does your garden need a design makeover?
- Do you long to know how to plan and grow beautiful borders?
- Do you love plants but lack confidence in your gardening ability?
- Does pruning defeat you, do your lawns languish and your cuttings keel over while you wage war with weeds?
- Are you keen to go green and organic?
- Would you like Private Tuition or a Garden Consultation?
Whatever your garden needs, I can offer you a course to suit your requirements
Garden Design
My three-term garden design courses are held one morning each week. They take place at my home in the rural hamlet of Shepherd’s Patch, Slimbridge, Gloucestershire, which is close to the world famous Slimbridge Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust and borders the peaceful Gloucester-Sharpness Canal.
My cottage garden provides the ideal studio for these courses, at the conclusion of which beginners on the Design your own Garden course will have produced designs and planting plans for their own and their fellow students’ gardens, as well as simple 3-D drawings. These are stimulating beginners’ courses for up to 6 people, held in a relaxed and informal atmosphere, and there are no exams. No previous drawing ability is required.
In the term on Border Planning, one session is held at a local garden centre. Here students select a variety of plants and arrange them to their best effect based on plant shape, texture and colour. This is a very popular, confidence-building exercise, as it allows students to plan an instant border without lifting a spade and to see how well plants look grouped together as they would be in the garden. Plants may then be bought from the garden centre, at a discount, if desired.
Practical Gardening
My three-term practical gardening course is held one morning every fortnight. It takes place in my garden and in students’ own gardens.
On this hands-on course students learn to plant and maintain beautiful borders, nourish the soil, grow fruit and vegetables, prune shrubs and roses, propagate from seed and cuttings, maintain lawns and make plants supports, etc. as well as designing beds & borders. Plant use and knowledge is also an important feature.
Workshops
These cover:
- Spring pruning shrubs and roses
Spend a day learning how to prune and festoon shrub, bush and climbing roses and late flowering shrubs.
Thursday 11th February 2027; 10.00 a.m. to 4.30 p.m. £90 including light lunch - Growing vegetables in small spaces
How to make a square foot vegetable bed, plan a cropping regime and sow seeds indoors and out.
Thursday 11th March 2027; 9.30 a.m. to 1.00 p.m.; £50 - Lawn care
Learn how to prepare the ground for sowing a new lawn, sow lawn seed, protect from birds, establish a maintenance regime, improve an existing lawn by scarifying, prepare and seed bare patches
Thursday 22nd April 2027; 9.30 a.m. to 1.00 p.m.; £50 - Summer pruning shrubs, roses and perennials
Learn how to prune spring and early flowering shrubs and rambling roses for maximum displays next year; prune perennials for continual flowering this year.
Thursday 1st July 2027; 10.00 a.m. to 4.30 p.m.; £90 including light lunch - Growing and training fruit in small spaces
Learn to select suitable rootstock, grow and maintain trained fruit trees as espaliers, cordons and fans, practising pruning the fruit trees in my garden.
Thursday 19th August 2027; 10.00 a.m. to 4.30 p.m.; £90 including light lunch
These are held either at May Cottage or in students’ own gardens locally.
Booking Form Half- and Full-day workshops 2027 Bookings will be confirmed on receipt of full payment by bank transfer to Nationwide Building Society a/c no. 07538817, sort code 07-09-76. Half-day workshops are £50, full-day £90.
Name: …………………………………………………. Address: ………………………………………………. ……………………………………………………… ………………………Post Code:………………… Telephone: ………………………….…………….. e-mail: …………………………………………….. Date: ……………………………………………… |
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Special Project
Examples of Practical Projects
Planting seeds
Get an early start by planting seeds. Learn which methods reward the least effort and which planting composts to use.
Propagating
Learn how to propagate cuttings using various techniques
This is my square foot veg bed which I have made as an introduction to growing vegetables for beginners. It is so simple to do, highly productive and ideal for small families. The squares are in fact 15 inches rather than 12.
