Garden Know How Experiences

“For me you have changed gardening from a chore to an interest!” DH, Hampton

A warm welcome to the beautiful private garden at The White Cottage, Outwood, with Horticulturalist and Designer, Laura.

Whether you are new to gardening, or comfortable in your gardening wellies but would like to learn more, then this is definitely for you.

Join an enjoyable and fascinating experience on the wonderful topic of gardening!

Garden Know-How Workshop experiences aim to inspire you in your gardening endeavours. Sessions are held in small groups of 4 to 6 people to give you maximum help and information, at an affordable price.

Laura will help you with particular advice for YOUR garden – just bring photos and questions with you.

Pick a session from the programme below, or book a package for advantageous rates. For full session details, scroll down the page.

Enquiries to Laura:

07776 448889 / 01342 42302/ laura@igarden.me

Or click here to register.

Registration

Workshop experiences programme 2023

Session duration: 2 hours including time for tea and biscuits
Morning sessions (AM) 10.30am to 12.30pm
Afternoon sessions (PM) 1.30pm to 3.30pm

2023
Sat 25 Mar AM	Theme: Creating a meadow. How easy is it? Demo: Plant supports; how to display your plants to the best effect.
Thu 20 Apr PM	Theme: Creating a good garden structure for year-round interest Demo: Garden jobs this month – some inspiration!
Sat 20 May AM	Theme: Creating a wildlife garden; doing your best for biodiversity Demo: Mulches – you need these in your life!
Thu 15 Jun AM	Theme: Reducing maintenance in your garden NO DIG Demo: Making good compost; tips and techniques
SUMMER BREAK
Sun 10 Sep AM	Theme: Propagating plants from cuttings and division Demo: How to take a rose cutting
Fri 15 Sep PM	Theme: Using bulbs in the garden to extend seasonal interest; best varieties Demo: Planting a container for winter and spring display
Thu 26 Oct PM	Theme: Gardening for climate change Demo: Mound planting
Thu 9 Nov PM	Theme: The winter garden; planting combinations for a superb effect Demo: Early preparations for spring

Prices (per person)

Pay as you go sessions:

£25 Garden Know-How member, £22

Packages:

3 sessions:    £65    Garden Know-How member:    £60
6 sessions: £125    Garden Know-How member: £115
8 sessions: £155    Garden Know-How member: £145

Gift vouchers are available.

A minimum of 4 bookings are required for a session to run. For private sessions or smaller groups, POA.

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Garden Know-How Workshops offer a great way to get the very best of guidance, advice and knowledge from experienced gardener and designer, Laura, in a relaxed and informal setting.

Packed with gems of information to inspire you in your garden and at the same time, enjoy a couple of hours in the lovely garden at The White Cottage.

A 5% discount on a Guided Woodland Walk or Garden Tour with cream tea, with a package deal purchase.

See the lovely mini-pond created by a couple who attended the ‘Creating a wildlife garden’ session in Spring and were inspired to go ahead and build this. Top marks!

Workshop contents 2023

Saturday 25 March AM

Creating a meadow: how easy is it?
Demo: How to display your plants to the best effect

What is a meadow?
Why are meadows desirable?
How much effort is it?
What’s wrong with a lawn?
The objective
What conditions do meadows need?
How do you design your meadow?
Approaches to turning a lawn into a meadow.
Recommended grasses and plug plants
First year management and management once established
Tools
Philosophy!

Demonstration: There are many ways to display plants. The demonstration will take you around the White Cottage garden, to give you ideas on effective structural supports and imaginative ways to display your plants, that won’t cost the earth.

Thursday 20 April PM

Creating a good garden structure for year-round interest
Demo: Weeding techniques!

Architecture of the garden – ‘the bones’
Soft landscaping: The plants
Pruning to create compelling shapes
Inviting motion
Elements of hard landscaping
Changing levels
Winter flowers and berries
Leaf shapes
Bark and branch structure

Demonstration: All about weeds and weeding – how to minimise your effort and deal with tough weeds

Saturday 20 May AM

Creating a wildlife garden; doing your best for biodiversity
Demo: Mulches – you need these in your life!

What to include?
How to maintain
Pollination and pollinators
Being greener
Top wildlife plants – perennials, shrubs, trees
Bee and bug hotels, hedgehog houses
Logpiles
Wildlife to look out for month by month

Demonstration: Types of mulches and how to apply them.

Thursday 15 June AM

Reducing maintenance in your garden NO DIG
Demo: Making good compost; tips and techniques

Approaches to gardening
Getting the balance right
Maintaining borders – tips and techniques
Maintaining hedges
Lawns versus meadows
Understanding your plants – the right plant in the right place
Low maintenance plants and groundcover

Demonstration: Making good compost, tips, techniques and shared experiences

Sunday 10 September PM

Propagation: semi ripe and hardwood cuttings
Demo: How to take rose cuttings

Content in progress

Friday 15 September AM

Using bulbs in the garden to extend seasonal interest; best varieties and where to place them
Demo: Planting a container for winter and spring display

Bulbs for different purposes
Your experiences of bulb planting
Laura’s choice bulbs
Bulbs for naturalising/for pot/for cutting
Bulbs to avoid!
When and where to purchase your bulbs?
How to store
How to plant
Laura’s take-away tips .. things you may not yet have considered!

Demonstration: Planting a container for winter and spring display

Thursday 26 October PM

Gardening for climate change
Demo: How to plant like a pro!

Climate change. Coping with winter wet and summer drought: susceptible and resilient plants
Dealing with autumn leaves: leafmould or winter habitat?
Frost protection: which plants will benefit, and how to go about it?
Mulching: exactly when and exactly how. Exploring types of mulches.
Questions and shared experiences
A walk around the beautiful autumn garden at The White Cottage.

Demonstration: A demonstration of how to mound plant, covering depths of planting, soil improvement, mycorrhizal fungi, and fertilisers.

Thursday 9 November PM

Planting for a winter garden; planting combinations
Demo: Early preparations for spring – what to do know?