Late spring is an exciting time in the garden, as plants fill out and grow. Join pro gardener Jenny for our May Practical Garden Focus Day and learn the skills and techniques needed to enable you to do all the important garden jobs for the month ahead.
“I had an amazing first day with Jenny. Came away feeling much more confident about what and when I should be maintaining my garden. I had a really enjoyable day.” Deborah (March 2024)
A rare opportunity to learn practical gardening skills through the seasons, with our Garden Focus Days. Learn by doing and garden through the year with professional gardener, Jenny Samuels. Our Garden Focus Days take place monthly and Jenny will teach tips and techniques for carrying all the important garden jobs in the month to come, whilst developing your plant knowledge and gardening skills.
May is filled with bright fresh greens, and shrubs and borders are beginning to flourish, fill out. Late spring is the time to make sure your plants have the right supports in place to prevent damage from summer storms. Seeds planted earlier in the season are growing fast and need pinching out and potting on to create strong plants ready for pots and borders. It’s also the moment to prune early flowering shrubs and evergreens. Our May Focus Day will cover jobs for the coming month including:
– Keeping plants upright and the use of plant supports
– An opportunity to make plant supports from coppiced hazel
– The ‘Chelsea Chop’ explained and which plants can benefit
– Pinching out and growing on seedlings
– Pruning jobs for May
From 9.45am we will have the kettle on for a welcoming cuppa and biscuit, which will give time for everyone to arrive and get their gardening gear on.
Usually, in the morning, Jenny will start with an introduction to the subjects of the day, before heading out into the garden for hands-on gardening.
Our set-up is ‘rustic’ so bring warm clothes and a sandwich, soup-in-a-flask lunch for yourself.
As hardy gardeners, we will carry on through light rain and cold. We have places to shelter in each course location, but please be aware that dreadful weather may necessitate Jenny calling a halt to outdoor activities.
The teaching will finish at 3pm before we clear up and leave by 3.30pm.
All our course days are designed to be enjoyable, informative and fun, with a mixture of input from Jenny, and plenty of chances to put into practice what you are learning.
Our May Focus Day takes place at a large private rural Sussex garden in East Chiltington near Plumpton, East Sussex. The garden has established borders, pond, orchard, kitchen garden and wildflower meadows and is a beautiful setting with wonderful views of The Downs, from which to learn to garden.
March Focus Day: Get Your Garden Ready for the Year Ahead
Taking place on Wednesday 15th March at East Chiltington
April Focus Day: Preparing and Planting
Taking place on Wednesday 17th April at East Chiltington
July Focus Day: Flourishing and Creating
Taking place on Wednesday 17th July at Woodmancote
August Focus Day: An Inspirational Garden
Taking place on Wednesday 28th August at Lindfield
September Focus Day: Collecting and Cutting
Taking place on Wednesday 18th September at Woodmancote
October Focus Day: Planning Ahead Bulbs & Last Jobs of the Year
Taking place on Wednesday 9th October at Sussex Prairie Garden
Jenny teaches in small groups (max 9) which ensures everyone gets the opportunity to practice, and time to ask questions. The days are a great way to meet like minded people with an interest in gardening and the natural world.
People who want to get to know their gardens better.
If you are a beginner, this course will take you through the steps you need to establish a new garden, without making costly mistakes.
If you are already experienced, you will learn more about professional techniques and ways of gardening more sustainably.
Complimentary tea and coffee throughout each course day
Pre-course instructions
Illustrated teaching notes to accompany each day of the course
Soil testing of your own samples
Take-home cuttings, seeds, and divisions, when available
Jenny’s approach to teaching gardening is influenced by a passion for greener gardening and a strong belief in working with your soil and climate rather than against it. She loves the challenge of rejuvenating tired borders – making good what is there and introducing fresh planting combinations to breathe new life into a garden.
As the owner of the Lindfield Gardening Company, Jenny has a wide range of experience including horticultural gardening, planting design and teaching gardening to enthusiastic beginners. Her original degree was in biomedical science, before retraining in horticulture, and gaining an RHS diploma with Commendation. Jenny was then awarded a further certificate in field biology from Sussex University.
Please bring a packed lunch with you.
We advise that you wear steel toe-capped boots, and of course gardening clothes and rain-wear. Gardening gloves are optional.
One Focus Day Ticket: £95
You can book 3 Garden Focus Day sessions as a reduced rate package of £85 per day (£255 in total).
Please see below to book.
Wednesday 15th May 2024
9.45am – 3.00pm
East Chiltington near Plumpton, East Sussex
Once you have booked, you will receive an email confirmation of your booking – please check your junk email folder if you do not hear from us.
About 2 weeks before the day of your course, you will receive another email from us, giving your directions and any joining instructions – please check your junk email folder if you do not hear from us.
Whether you are attending for one, or a series of our Garden Focus Days, there will be lots to learn and take away to use in your garden from each session. This course has been designed so that each Focus Day will teach you all you need to know to complete the important garden jobs in the month to come. And for those booking for the whole year, you will find that the course has been created so that each month you will build on the knowledge and skills learnt in previous sessions.
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Tel: 01273 834 083
Sussex Garden School
Oak Studio
Old Barn Nurseries
Worthing Road, Dial Post
Horsham RH13 8NU
