Teach ‘With Plants’
You can read all the books and watch all the gardening' shows, but there is no substitute for actually doing a gardening task.
One of our Teach ‘With Plants’ sessions will leave you able to tackle your horticultural task with ease.
These sessions are the perfect green fingered investment for yourself or a small group of friends or as a gift to the budding (but timid) gardener in your life.
What does a Teach ‘With Plants’ session include?
Every Teach ‘With Plants’ lesson is a practical tuition session carried out in your garden.
your tutor introduces the ‘need to knows’, then you start the practical application with the support of your teacher who will be with you every ‘snip of the way’.
Questions are encouraged, so ask away. At the end of the session you will receive a ‘Task Information’ sheet to help keep you on track next time you put your new gardening skills to good use.
Sessions run from 2 - 4 hours depending on the topic and will be booked in advance to take place in your garden site. It couldn’t be any more convenient!
Take a look below to see what topics we cover
The Teach With Plants Lessons
1. It’s all coming up Roses
Working with all the different types of roses that you might have in your garden. This 2-3 hour practical tutorial will get you
Winter Pruning
Dead heading
Tying in
Understanding the importance of good planting
Understanding the importance of the health of the root zone
Learning how to recognise and prevent the main rose pests and diseases.
This is a practical lesson where you will be carrying out the gardening task yourself with expert help.
This lesson can be carried out one-on-one or in small groups. The session price is £150
2. Apples and Pears … Oh! and Figs and Cherries and Plums
Looking at the fruit trees that you have in your garden this practical session can run for up to 4 hours. The session could cover any of the following;
Understanding the basics of the flowering and fruiting process
Pruning equipment and techniques.
How to Winter prune to control size / shape and create healthy structure
How to encourage fruiting buds
How to thin out congested fruiting spurs
Thinning out fruit
Summer pruning to restrict vigour and growth
What to do with trees that have been neglected for a long time
How to prune and establish ‘Restricted growth forms’ e.g espalier and stepovers
Planting and formative pruning of young trees
Some of the main pest and disease problems affecting fruit trees
As you can see this is a wide ranging topic and it can seem one of the most daunting, but after this one-on-one tutorial you will feel confident to prune your own fruit trees to provide generations of happy cropping.
This is a practical lesson where you will be carrying out the gardening task yourself with expert help.
This lesson can be carried out one-on-one or in small groups. The session price is £250
3. Get started with propagation
Learn how to make your own plants with this practical gardening lesson carried out in your garden. This really is an invaluable skill as it allows you to multiply your plants for free! The session will mostly use your own garden stock as a resource, but some materials may be brought along by the tutor. It is a 3 - 4 hour session and will cover the following techniques;
Seed sowing and collection
splitting or dividing herbaceous perennials
The when?, how? and what? of taking cuttings
Cuttings - Soft, semi-ripe and hardwood cuttings
Layering
Root cuttings
Cuttings aftercare
The main pitfalls of cuttings and how to avoid them.
This is a practical lesson where you will be carrying out the gardening task yourself with expert help.
This lesson can be carried out one-on-one or in small groups and costs £250
4. Make Your Own ‘Mix and Match’
Maybe you would like a more broad introduction to a range of gardening techniques? We are happy to put together bespoke practical lessons to cover the topics that you feel are relevant to you and your garden. Take a quick peek at some popular topics below, but feel free to contact us directly if you don’t see what you are looking for listed there.
Shrub pruning
Fruit and vegetables
Planting techniques
Container gardening
Composting
Managing your herbaceous border
Encouraging wildlife into the garden
Basic principles of garden design and plant selection
This is a practical lesson where you will be carrying out the gardening task yourself with expert help.
The lesson can be carried out one-on-one or in small groups. These sessions cost £150 (2 hour session) or £250 (4 hour session).
Greenfingers Gardening Retreat in France
Twice a year ‘With Plants’ runs the Greenfingers Gardening retreat in collaboration with the amazing Manoir la Croix de la Jugie.
Set in the stunning Limousin countryside, the large grounds offer the perfect space for a packed out five days of practical gardening tuition.
Meet fellow gardeners whilst enjoying the beautiful surroundings. After class you can ease into all that the Manoir has to offer.
Our guests love the food (all provided for you), the company and of course, the gardening!
This retreat is great for couples, groups or solo travellers.