East Midlands - Rutland

The enormous variety of planting styles at Barnsdale has been likened to a ‘theme park for gardeners’ and many visitors will recognise the famous TV sets; the Cottage Gardens with their compost bins disguised as beehives; the popular productive areas and the serene Paradise Gardens which were Geoff’s last projects. Now in the capable hands of son Nick, the gardens are constantly evolving, with new developments such as the Geoff Hamilton Winter Border, featuring a range of special plants donated by the broadcaster’s friends and family.

The Chelsea Gold Medal-winning nursery produces a wide variety of high quality plants for sale, including more unusual and rare species that are mostly propagated from the gardens themselves. There are helpful and knowledgeable experts on hand to answer any questions and after a pleasant wander round the nursery, visitors can relax in the licensed tea room which seats 120, with an outside dining area overlooking the gardens for warm days. Here, friendly staff serve the freshest, locally sourced fare which is supplemented in season by produce from Barnsdale’s own allotment and kitchen gardens. There is free wi-fi too and a small gardening library for tea room visitors.

Barnsdale has been recognised with an award by the Rutland Access Group for its accessible facilities, which include accessible parking, accessible toilets and ramp-access to parts of the gardens where necessary. Most areas are on the flat and there is plenty of seating for visitors with limited mobility, or for accompanying friends who just want to sit back and take it all in.

Barnsdale Gardens welcomes pre-booked groups all year round, whether it's for a garden visit, lunch or a tea and cake stop. There is ample free coach parking near to the garden entrance and a dedicated member of staff to meet your group, to give an introduction and offer assistance. A free site map is given to each visitor and groups can also book a bespoke tour with Nick Hamilton or head gardener Jon Brocklebank, while coach drivers are welcome to visit the gardens or relax with a free refreshments voucher. Barnsdale’s groups coordinator is also happy to advise on places to stay nearby or organise visits to other local attractions - just ask!

BARNSDALE GARDENS COURSES & EVENTS 2018

MAY

Growing Under Glass

Tuesday 8 May, 10am-12.30pm.

Nick Hamilton shows you how to get the most from a productive greenhouse or tunnel in this easy-to-follow course. There are different types of structure suited to every pocket, so come and find out what you can grow, how to propagate your plants, what to do about pests and diseases, all about maintenance and, finally, how to achieve a bumper harvest!

£34, including tea/coffee and entry to the Gardens. Pre-booking essential!

Watercolour Painting Day: ‘Garden Views’

Thursday 17 May, 10.30am-4pm.

Join local artist Sandra Peck for a really enjoyable, relaxed and informative workshop; it doesn't matter whether you are a beginner or have been painting for a while, you will be able to sit up close and watch detailed demonstrations and then have a go at your own pace, with help as you need it throughout the day. Try these little scenes painted in loose drippy watercolour with a flourish of pen added for detail- watercolour is such an exciting medium, especially when allowed to flow on the wet paper, and this is a great way to capture memories of Barnsdale or your own garden. 

£65, including tea/coffee, cream tea and entry to the Gardens. Art materials for the day, £6. Pre-booking essential!

Spring Vegetable Weekend

Saturday 26 & Sunday 27 May, 11am-4pm.

If you love growing your own food then Barnsdale is the place to be this weekend. We'll be opening up all the productive areas that are normally off-limits to visitors and our expert growers will be available to advise you on your own veggie production and chat about their favourite subject! Visit the Nursery before you leave and stock up on exclusive Barnsdale Gardens organic vegetable plants to get you started at home and make a note in your diary of our Summer Vegetable Weekend, when you’ll be able to see all our hard work coming to fruition.

Garden admission: Groups: £7 per person (20 adults or more), Children: £4 per person (under 16).

Just want to come for a spot of retail therapy and a great lunch or afternoon tea? Entry to the Barnsdale Gardens Gift Shop, Nursery and Tea Room is free.

JUNE

Photography Workshop: ‘Flowers Close Up’ 

Saturday 2 June, 9.30am-4.30pm.

Learn how to record the fragile beauty of flowers in close-up with award-winning botanical and garden photographer Hemant Jariwala. This inspiring course covers the use of light, composition and colour and includes lots of useful tips and new techniques which will change the way you see the plants in YOUR garden. Both occasional and enthusiast photographers are welcome.

£74, including tea/coffee, lunch and entry to the Gardens. Pre-booking essential!

Dad’s Day Barbecue & Family Nature Trail 

Sunday 17 June, 12pm-4pm.

Bring your dad for a day out at Barnsdale and we'll treat him to a home-made burger and a beer, free! We've even got a special Dad's Snoozing Area, kitted out with stripy seaside deckchairs, for him to sleep it off while the kids explore the plants and wildlife in our magical midsummer gardens.

Garden admission: Groups: £7 per person (20 adults or more), Children: £4 per person (under 16).

If you’re looking for a special gift for the man in your life, Barnsdale Gardens’ Gift Shop and Nursery are chock-full of great ideas, and entry is free.

Rutland Poppy Project Poppy-making Workshop

Saturday 23 June, 10am-12pm.

Come and make a ceramic poppy as part of an exciting local community project. Inspired by the famous 2014 art installation at the Tower of London, thousands of blooms, made by local schools, groups, families and individuals, will be placed together to create a sea of colour at Oakham Castle to commemorate centenary of the end of the First World War. Adults and accompanied children are all welcome at this workshop- please bring an apron or an old shirt as you will be working with clay. 

Free with Garden admission: Groups: £7 per person (20 adults or more), Children: £4 per person (under 16). Refreshments available from the Tea Room, charged as taken. 

Watercolour Painting Day: ‘Raindrops on Roses’

Thursday 28 June, 10.30am-4pm.

Join local artist Sandra Peck for a really enjoyable, relaxed and informative day. It doesn't matter whether you’re a beginner or have been painting for a while, you can sit up close and watch a detailed demonstration before then having a go at your own pace, with help as you need it throughout the day. Roses are one of the absolute favourites for watercolour and you will learn lots of useful tips for drawing them, painting beautiful translucent wet-into-wet petals and adding sparkling raindrops. 

£65, including tea/coffee, cream tea and entry to the Gardens. Basic materials pack available for an extra £6. Pre-booking essential!

JULY

Summer Sundays: Roses Day with Stuart Dixon

Sunday 1 July, 12pm-4pm. 

A special day of informal walks and talks hosted by writer, broadcaster and rose fan Stuart Dixon. So if you’re looking for a particular variety or just love roses, join Stuart to tour the Gardens and learn more- there’s no booking necessary and you’re welcome to join him for as long as you like.

Garden admission: Groups: £7 per person (20 adults or more), Children: £4 per person (under 16).

Just want to come for a spot of retail therapy and a great lunch or afternoon tea? Entry to the Barnsdale Gardens Gift Shop, Nursery and Tea Room is free.

Garden iPhoneography

Sunday 1 July, 10am-12.30pm OR 1.30pm-4pm.

Join our award-winning botanical, garden and landscape lensman Hemant Jariwala and learn to take great garden photos with your smartphone. You'll begin by getting to grips with smartphone technology, from its limitations to its numerous advantages. Like traditional photography, iPhoneography skill is closely linked with the selection of garden viewpoint, image composition and the thought processes of the garden's designer, so you'll learn about effective visual communication through studying examples from Hemant’s own portfolio. Then there will be the opportunity to put theory into practice, with plenty of time to take your own pictures around Barnsdale's beautiful and varied gardens. Whether you’re a novice, an occasional iPhone camera user or an enthusiast digital-camera photographer, this short introductory workshop will give you the essential visual techniques you need to take amazing garden photos. Please bring your phone fully charged!

£20 including tea/coffee and entry to the Gardens. Pre-booking essential!

Love Your Garden Bugs

Wednesday 4 July, 10.30am-4.30pm.

Ever wondered exactly what some of those beasties are as you work in the garden? Sally Cunningham's course is an introduction to garden pests and predators, and the others which simply live in your garden minding their own business. You'll learn how to use basic field guides and identify creatures correctly, discover what the insects are up to in a bug-friendly garden and find out how to encourage predators and beneficial insects. Want to know why a bigger bug-hotel isn't always better, or how to extend your flowering season and which are the favourite flowers for bees? Then this is the course for you!

£74 including tea/coffee, lunch and entry to the Gardens. Pre-booking essential!

Summer Sundays: Hardy Plant Day

Sunday 8 July, 12pm-4pm. 

Come and meet members of the local Hardy Plant Society to find out all you need to know about caring for and growing the plants that love our climate.

Garden admission: Groups: £7 per person (20 adults or more), Children: £4 per person (under 16).

Just want to come for a spot of retail therapy and a great lunch or afternoon tea? Entry to the Barnsdale Gardens Gift Shop, Nursery and Tea Room is free.

Summer Sundays: Medieval Garden History Day

Sunday 15 July, 12pm-4pm. 

Meet our horticultural historian and find out what our ancestors grew for food and medicine.

Garden admission: Groups: £7 per person (20 adults or more), Children: £4 per person (under 16).

Just want to come for a spot of retail therapy and a great lunch or afternoon tea? Entry to the Barnsdale Gardens Gift Shop, Nursery and Tea Room is free.

Growing Veg Indoors and Out

Wednesday 18 July, 10.30am-4.30pm.

Are you a virgin veg grower? Want to learn which seedlings are weeds and what's a plant, or are you nervous about taking on more than you can dig? Join Sally Cunningham to find out how to start growing vegetables- even if your garden is small or non-existent. You'll learn the basic techniques for outdoor plots, container and bag growing, concrete-bag patches and square foot style, plant spacing and mini-veg production plus vertical growing and choosing varieties. Moving indoors you'll find out how to select good plants for windowsills and hanging baskets, learn about seed-sprouting and micro-greens, planning for winter, how to best use your conservatory or make the most of a polytunnel or small unheated greenhouse.

Add to this pest and disease management and you'll be good to go!

£74, including tea/coffee, lunch and entry to the Gardens. Pre-booking essential!

Summer Sundays: Family Nature Trail

Sunday 22 July, 12pm-4pm. 

Bring the children for a backyard safari around Barnsdale, to look for some of the creatures you might find there and see what they're doing. Try pond dipping, bird-spotting and bug hunting, or make an insect home. 

Garden admission: Groups: £7 per person (20 adults or more), Children: £4 per person (under 16).

Just want to come for a spot of retail therapy and a great lunch or afternoon tea? Entry to the Barnsdale Gardens Gift Shop, Nursery and Tea Room is free.

Watercolour Painting Day: ‘Hemerocallis’

Thursday 26 July, 10.30am-4pm.

Join local artist Sandra Peck for a really enjoyable, relaxed and informative day. It doesn't matter whether you are a beginner or have been painting for a while, you'll have a chance to sit up close and watch a detailed demonstration and then have a go at your own pace, with help as you need it throughout the day. There are many unusual and lovely varieties grown at Barnsdale Gardens and you'll learn how to draw them from different angles and paint wet-into-wet translucent petals.

£65, including tea/coffee, cream tea and entry to the Gardens. Art materials for the day £6. Pre-booking essential!

Summer Sundays: Grow and Discover 

Sunday 29 July, 12pm-4pm.

Families of all ages can join garden designer Chris Allen to learn some amazing facts about what goes on in your garden.

Garden admission: Groups: £7 per person (20 adults or more), Children: £4 per person (under 16). Just want to come for a spot of retail therapy and a great lunch or afternoon tea? Entry to the Barnsdale Gardens Gift Shop, Nursery and Tea Room is free.

AUGUST

Photography Workshop: ‘Garden Landscapes’ 

Saturday 4 August, 9.30am-4.30pm.

Learn how to really capture the essence of your favourite special places with award-winning botanical and garden photographer Hemant Jariwala. This inspiring course offers a full exploration of garden design and how to express this as a photographic composition, with lots of useful tips and new techniques along the way. Both occasional and enthusiast photographers are welcome.

£74, including tea/coffee, lunch and entry to the Gardens. Pre-booking essential!

Summer Sundays: Croquet and Pimm’s on the Lawn

Sunday 5 August, 12pm-4pm.

Come and try this most English of games in the delightful setting of Barnsdale’s glorious gardens, and treat yourself to a chilled glass of Pimms’ for a spot of genteel refreshment!

Garden admission: Groups: £7 per person (20 adults or more), Children: £4 per person (under 16). 

Free croquet with your Garden admission, refreshments charged as taken.

Summer Sundays: The Good, the Bad and the Ugly 

Sunday 12 August, 9am-4pm.

Come for a fun family day full of activities to help you find out more about the insect pals and pests in your back yard. Early risers can join moth expert Vic Arnold from 9am-10am for a cuppa and a breakfast butty, to see what’s been caught in our live moth trap overnight; the moths will be on show all day until 4pm, when you can help to release them back into the garden. Help Sally Cunningham to build a bug hotel in the woodland or have a go at pond-dipping. You can follow a special trail to find out which are the pollinators' favourite plants and meet our local wildlife craftsmen.

Garden admission: Groups: £7 per person (20 adults or more), Children: £4 per person (under 16). Just want to come for a spot of retail therapy and a great lunch or afternoon tea? Entry to the Barnsdale Gardens Gift Shop, Nursery and Tea Room is free.

Gardening in Shade

Monday 13 August, 10am-12.30pm.

Discover a range of plants that are perfect for the shady areas in your garden and clever ways to improve growing conditions and broaden your scope for planting. Nick Hamilton’s morning course combines indoor tuition with an outdoor exploration of Barnsdale’s beautiful Gardens in search of some of the shade-loving plants that grow there.

£34, including tea/coffee and entry to the Gardens. Pre-booking essential!

Summer Vegetable Weekend

Saturday 18 & Sunday 19 August, 11am-4pm.

If you love growing your own food then Barnsdale is the place to be this weekend. We'll be opening up the productive areas that are normally off-limits to visitors, and our veggie expert will be available to advise you on your own production and chat about her favourite subject! If you’ve visited us earlier in the year you’ll enjoy seeing our crops coming to fruition, and if you come along on Sunday, you can take in a demonstration of seasonal cookery too, using our own home-grown produce. Members of the National Allotment Society will also be joining us on the Sunday and will be running extra activities and talks, as well as an information stand.

Garden admission: Groups: £7 per person (20 adults or more), Children: £4 per person (under 16). Just want to come for a spot of retail therapy and a great lunch or afternoon tea? Entry to the Barnsdale Gardens Gift Shop, Nursery and Tea Room is free. 

Watercolour Painting Day: ‘Potting Shed’

Thursday 23 August, 10.30am-4pm.

Join local artist Sandra Peck for a really enjoyable, relaxed and informative day. It doesn't matter whether you are a beginner or have been painting for a while, you’ll have a chance to sit up close and watch a detailed demonstration and then have a go at your own pace, with help as you need it throughout the day. This little gem sits quietly amongst the veggie patch and makes a very appealing subject for watercolour, with lots of different watercolour techniques for you to try.

£65, including tea/coffee, cream tea and entry to the Gardens. Art materials for the day £6.

Summer Sundays: Plant Lovers’ Day with Matt Biggs. 

Sunday 26 August, 12pm-4pm.

A special day of informal walks and talks hosted by Radio 4’s Matthew Biggs. Matt will be touring the Gardens to discover the interesting species that you might otherwise miss, and you are welcome to join him for as long as you like.

Garden admission: Groups: £7 per person (20 adults or more), Children: £4 per person (under 16). Just want to come for a spot of retail therapy and a great lunch or afternoon tea? Entry to the Barnsdale Gardens Gift Shop, Nursery and Tea Room is free.

Garden iPhoneography

Sunday 26 August, 10am-12.30pm OR 1.30pm-4pm.  

Join our award-winning botanical, garden and landscape lensman Hemant Jariwala and learn to take great garden photos with your smartphone. You'll begin by getting to grips with smartphone technology, from its limitations to its numerous advantages. Like traditional photography, iPhoneography skill is closely linked with the selection of garden viewpoint, image composition and the thought processes of the garden's designer, so you'll learn about effective visual communication through studying examples from Hemant’s own portfolio. Then there will be the opportunity to put theory into practice, with plenty of time to take your own pictures around Barnsdale's beautiful and varied gardens. Whether you’re a novice, an occasional iPhone camera user or an enthusiast digital-camera photographer, this short introductory workshop will give you the essential visual techniques you need to take amazing garden photos. Please bring your phone fully charged!

£20 including tea/coffee and entry to the Gardens. Pre-booking essential!

SEPTEMBER 

Preparing Your Garden for Winter

Tuesday 18 September, 10am-12.30pm.

In these days of global warming and changing weather patterns, the term ‘putting your garden to bed for winter’ no longer really applies, but there are still plenty of jobs that need to be carried out before the cold weather really kicks in. Nick Hamilton leads this morning course covering all the necessary tasks needed to see your garden and accessories through a ‘normal’ British winter, whatever that may be!

£34, including tea/coffee and entry to the Gardens. Pre-booking essential!

Composting

Wednesday 19 September, 10am-12.30pm.

Being able to compost all that free material that we generate at home and in the garden is an exciting thought. This course will show you how! Nick Hamilton takes a look at what can and cannot be composted, the requirements of a compost heap, activators, turning a heap and the pros and cons of each type of compost bin.

£34, including tea/coffee and entry to the Gardens. Pre-booking essential!

Watercolour Painting Day: ‘Sunlight Through Trees’

Thursday 20 September, 10.30am-4pm.

Join local artist Sandra Peck for another really enjoyable, relaxed and informative day, painting this lovely scene of light amongst the trees in the Avenue, on the approach to Barnsdale. It doesn't matter whether you are a beginner or have been painting for a while, you’ll have a chance to sit up close and watch a detailed demonstration and then have a go at your own pace, with help as you need it throughout the day. 

£65, including tea/coffee, cream tea and entry to the Gardens. Art materials for the day, £6. Pre-booking essential!

Rose Pruning

Thursday 27 September, 10am-12.30pm.

Roses are notorious for being tricky to trim so if you're petrified of pruning, we've got just the course for you! In this easy-to-follow, practical session, Barnsdale's Head Gardener Jon Brocklebank will show you exactly how and when each type of rose should be pruned, using simple step-by-step demonstrations.

£34, including tea/coffee and entry to the Gardens. Pre-booking essential!

OCTOBER

Introduction to Organic Vegetable Growing

Monday 1 October, 10am-4pm.

Led by Nick Hamilton, this course is aimed at both gardening novices and those who want to find out more about growing and ‘pest-proofing’ their vegetables the natural way. You’ll learn all about organic principles, soil types, organic fertilisers, pest and disease problems and how to cope with them organically, and ways to rotate your crops to get the best from your plot. The course includes classroom learning with practical, ‘on the allotment’ discussions, lunch in the Barnsdale Tea Room and a full set of printed notes to take home.

£76, including tea/coffee, lunch and entry to the Gardens. Pre-booking essential!

Autumn at Barnsdale: Breakfast and Guided Walk

Wednesday 3 October, breakfast from 9.30, walk 10.30am-12.30pm.

Top up your energy reserves with a Barnsdale Full English Breakfast before setting off at 10.30am on a very special guided tour of Barnsdale Gardens with Nick Hamilton at this colourful time of year. Nick will consider all the individual Gardens and adjoining borders and will point out some of his favourite specimens, as well as the plants and trees that are the stars of this time of year. 

£34, including breakfast. Pre-booking essential!

Garden Design Workshop 

Saturday 6 October, 10am-4.30pm.

While many of us are more than competent to design and decorate our homes the ideas can often dry up as soon as we move outside. Just where is the best place for a patio or path, the shed, greenhouse or arbour? And of course the whole question of choosing and using plants taxes many of us! David Stevens’ course will take you right through the planning process, from an initial analysis of what you have and what you would like, to the many choices of paving and walling, leading to a design which should be a reflection of your own personality and needs. Planting and its design will bring your new garden alive and can be tailored to the amount of maintenance you are happy with, so an in-depth tour of Barnsdale is included for inspiration. Your tutor has been creating gardens all over the world for over 40 years, with 11 Chelsea Gold medals to his credit. He is also in great demand as a speaker and lecturer in garden design, so this day is a treat not to be missed!

£76, including tea/coffee, lunch and entry to the Gardens. Or book a Planting Design Workshop AND a Garden Design Workshop in 2018 for £140- a saving of £12! Pre- booking essential. 

Autumn Birdwatch 

Sunday 7 October, 12pm-4pm. 

Meet expert spotters and take a special tour of the Gardens with local naturalist Phil Rudkin. You can chat with our clever makers of bird boxes and bug hotels or make a simple bird feeder yourself to take home. Barnsdale provides a home for a huge variety of garden birds, with guest appearances by the residents of nearby Rutland Water, so there’ll be plenty to see, and even the youngest visitor will be able to get a great view on the woodland webcam.

Garden admission: Groups: £7 per person (20 adults or more), Children: £4 per person (under 16).

Just want to come for a spot of retail therapy and a great lunch or afternoon tea? Entry to the Barnsdale Gardens Gift Shop, Nursery and Tea Room is free.

Pruning Shrubs

Wednesday 10 October, 10am-12.30pm.

If the thought of pruning your shrubs brings you out in a cold sweat, then this is the course for you! Join Barnsdale's Head Gardener Jon Brocklebank as he tackles plants in the various pruning groups in two hours of easy-to-follow practical demonstrations.

£34, including tea/coffee and entry to the Gardens. Pre- booking essential!

Willow Trug Workshop

Wednesday 10 October, 10am-4pm.

Grab your secateurs and join country craftsman John Shone to learn the art of basket weaving and create a beautiful garden trug to take home. 

£74, including tea/coffee, lunch, materials and entry to the Gardens. Pre- booking essential!

Vegetables All the Year Round

Wednesday 17 October, 10am-4pm.

Aimed at both experienced and novice growers, Nick Hamilton's course will show you the many ways you can extend your growing season; learn all about different vegetable varieties, propagation by seed, growing in beds, storage, and the importance of catch crops. By the end of the day you'll be able to plan your own planting programme to give you home-grown vegetables on the dinner table all year round.

£76, including tea/coffee, lunch and entry to the Gardens. Pre- booking essential!

The Fruitful Garden

Thursday 18 October, 10.30am-4.30pm.

If it's a blasted heath or a sunny cliff top, an urban pocket handkerchief or just a tiny patio, whatever the size and site of your garden there's a fruit that will love growing there. Join Sally Cunningham for a tour of the possibilities of fruit growing for any site, including apples, pears, plums, figs, apricots, grapes and soft fruits. Find out how to assess your site for rainfall, exposure, frost pockets, pollination groups, soil characteristics and pH. You'll look at growing fruit in a controlled form, in pots or confined spaces and learn about prolonging your season by choice of site and fruit variety. There’ll be ideas for harvesting and storage plus ways to combat common pests and diseases for a very fruit-filled garden next year.

 £74, including tea/coffee, lunch and entry to the Gardens. Pre- booking essential!

Planting Design Workshop 

Saturday 20 October, 10am-4.30pm.

If your garden is not achieving everything you envisaged and you're unsure what to do, then join internationally renowned garden designer David Stevens for this very special workshop. David will take you through all the basics; looking at specific plants and showing how they work best in a garden, and covering planting techniques as well as the preparation of a planting plan. David is in demand as a designer and lecturer in garden design all over the world, so this day is a treat not to be missed!

£76, including tea/coffee, lunch and entry to the Gardens. Or book a Planting Design Workshop AND a Garden Design Workshop in 2018 for £140- a saving of £12! Pre- booking essential.

Watercolour Painting Day: ‘Clematis’

Thursday 25 October, 10.30am-4pm.

Join local artist Sandra Peck for another really enjoyable, relaxed and informative day. It doesn't matter whether you are a beginner or have been painting for a while, you’ll have a chance to sit up close and watch a detailed demonstration and then have a go at your own pace, with help as you need it throughout the day. You’ll learn how to shape and shade petals in translucent watercolour to make them lift from the paper, plus useful techniques for wet-into-wet backgrounds.

£65, including tea/coffee, cream tea and entry to the Gardens. Art materials for the day, £6. Pre- booking essential.

Barnsdale’s Scary Spooktacular

Sunday 28 October, 12pm-4pm.

Come for a walk in the Weird Woods where you can take part in a spot of spooky apple bobbing and carve your own petrifying pumpkin to take home- it's frightening fun for all the family, and kids in costume visit free!

Garden admission: Groups: £7 per person (20 adults or more), Children: £4 per person (under 16).

Just want to come for a spot of retail therapy and a great lunch or afternoon tea? Entry to the Barnsdale Gardens Gift Shop, Nursery and Tea Room is free.

Plant Propagation

Wednesday 31 October, 10am-12.30pm.

Lots of plants can be had for free by swapping cuttings with friends and family, or propagating your own. If you're new to all this, or just want to learn more, then join Nick Hamilton to find out all about the different methods of stem, root and leaf cutting, division and layering. His in- and out- door practical demonstrations include a wide range of plants and by the end the course, you should be able to propagate almost any plant in your garden.

£34, including tea/coffee and entry to the Gardens. Pre- booking essential!

NOVEMBER

Pruning Fruit Trees

Tuesday 6 November, 10am-12.30pm.

If you've got fruit trees in need of a haircut but no idea how to begin, then we have just the course for you! Nick Hamilton’s easy-to-follow tutorial accompanied by practical demonstrations will give you the basic knowledge and confidence you need to train and prune a wide range of fruiting trees, whether they be the usual apples, pears, plums and cherries, or even peaches, apricots, nectarines and figs.

Price £34, including tea/coffee and entry to the Gardens. Pre- booking essential!

Watercolour Painting Day: ‘Oakham Castle in Pen and Wash’

Thursday 15 November, 10.30am-4pm.

Join local artist Sandra Peck for another really enjoyable, relaxed and informative day, painting this lovely view of Oakham Castle in gorgeous drippy watercolour and added pen detail. It doesn't matter whether you are a beginner or have been painting for a while, you’ll have a chance to sit up close and watch a detailed demonstration and then have a go at your own pace, with help as you need it throughout the day. 

£65, including tea/coffee, cream tea and entry to the Gardens. Art materials for the day, £6. Pre- booking essential!

DECEMBER

Watercolour Painting Day: ‘Snowy Garden’

Thursday 13 December, 10.30am-4pm.

Join local artist Sandra Peck for another really enjoyable, relaxed and informative day. It doesn't matter whether you are a beginner or have been painting for a while, you’ll have a chance to sit up close and watch a detailed demonstration and then have a go at your own pace, with help as you need it throughout the day. You’ll paint a beautiful garden after a fall of snow as a useful exercise in just suggesting detail with drippy paint and a flourish of pen.

Price £65, including tea/coffee, cream tea and entry to the Gardens. Art materials for the day, £6. Pre- booking essential!