RHS Short Course Programme 2014
IX Book S r u two ho d get n sa course them f ONE o free
The RHS centre is located on the 60 hectare Avonbank Campus of Pershore College with its landscaped gardens, orchards, plant collections, arboretum, library and educational facilities. The centre offers an extensive programme of events throughout the year, attracting people from all parts of the country, and is open all year round between 10am and 5pm on weekdays. All tickets must be booked in advance. Some events sell out quickly, so we cannot guarantee that places will be available if not pre-booked. Should it be necessary for you to cancel your booking, please note that the refund of fees is at the discretion of the centre. It may be necessary to cancel an event due to insufficient ticket sales, in which case fees will be refunded. Circumstances may require that the organisers engage a tutor of equal standing without notice. You may book tickets by telephoning and quoting your credit/debit card number to 01386 554609 or by post to the address below, with cheques payable to ‘Warwickshire College’.
RHS Centre Pershore College Avonbank Pershore Worcestershire WR10 3JP
Save money on courses with RHS membership! Plus enjoy days out for less and other exclusive RHS member benefits. Call us to find out more quoting 1887.
Photograph on front cover Iris ‘Haut les Voiles’, taken by Duncan Coombs
JANUARY Tue 7
2-4pm
Demonstration Around your Garden in January Seasonal plants and gardening tasks with Bob Hares.
£9.00 mem £11.00 non
Tue 14
2-4pm
Lecture
£9.00 mem Designing Gardens with Water £11.00 non Water features ‘yes or no’? This lecture, with Carol Smith, will explore the design, practical and aesthetic qualities of the various types of water feature available; the benefits to the user and nature of including a water feature in the garden. Learn how the garden becomes a completely different environment with a water feature, no matter how simple. By the end of this talk the answer will be ‘yes’!
Tue 21
2-4pm
Lecture
The History and Restoration of Painswick £9.00 mem Rococo Garden £11.00 non The session will begin with a lecture by Paul Moir, Garden Director of Painswick Rococo Garden. This will be followed by an illustrated talk by Duncan Coombs on snowdrops for your garden.
Tue 28
2-4pm
Lecture
Into the High Mountains of China Duncan Coombs returns to his beloved China to see more of the choice alpine plants and people of the remoter parts of Yunnan.
£9.00 mem £11.00 non
Floral Designs Using Weaving and Plaiting Learn these different techniques to add distinction to your floral designs.
£30.00 mem £35.00 non
FEBRUARY Sat 1
Tue 4
10am-1pm Workshop
2-4pm
Demonstration Around your Garden in February Seasonal plants and gardening tasks with Bob Hares.
For booking and membership details telephone 01386 554609 or email: rhs@warkscol.ac.uk
(includes materials)
£9.00 mem £11.00 non
FEBRUARY (CONTINUED) Tue 4
7.30pm
Special Event
An Evening with James Wong This is part of a national tour by botanist, James Wong, to set the record straight regarding horticulture as a career, which is often dismissed as being unacademic. It will be especially interesting to those considering horticulture as a career.
Free (booking essential as places are limited)
Tue 11
2-4pm
Lecture
You Can’t Buy These – Unusual and Delicious Vegetables From Your Garden Chris Smith, from Pennard Plants, will look at the many vegetables that you cannot buy and will have to grow yourself! He will also show you how to use them in the kitchen.
Tue 18
2-4pm
Lecture
£9.00 mem Designing & Planting the Fruit £11.00 non Garden As well as covering the choice of site and protection from adverse weather, John Edgeley will also cover soil preparation, choice of plants and their cultivars, spacing, support and training for shape, together with choice of rootstocks.
Thu 20
Depart 10am
Visit
A Visit to Painswick Rococo Garden Join us on a guided tour of these famous gardens with Head Gardener, Steve Quinton, when snowdrops carpet the woodland. A minibus will go from Pershore College or you can meet us there.
Price on application
Sat 22
9.30am3.30pm
Workshop
Fruit Tree Pruning To be held at Hanbury Hall, near Droitwich, this workshop will focus on pruning top fruit. Participants will need to bring their own lunch and wear working clothes.
£60.00 mem £65.00 non
For booking and membership details telephone 01386 554609 or email: rhs@warkscol.ac.uk
£9.00 mem £11.00 non
FEBRUARY (CONTINUED) Tue 25
2-4pm
Lecture
The Pond Owner’s Calendar This talk by RHS Gold Medal winner, Linda Smith, will show propagation and other tasks, as well as planting highlights for each season of the year.
£9.00 mem £11.00 non
Hand Tied Floral Designs Create unique designs with St David in mind!
£30.00 mem £35.00 non (includes all materials)
MARCH Sat 1
10am-1pm Workshop
Tue 4
2-4pm
Demonstration Around your Garden in March Seasonal plants and gardening tasks with Bob Hares.
Tue 11
2-4pm
Lecture
£9.00 mem Foraging From Your Garden £11.00 non Many shrubs and trees that we grow can yield something delicious to eat. In this lecture, Chris Smith, from Pennard Plants, will show what is good and what you might like to plant for beauty and edibility.
Sat 15
10am4pm
Workshop
Advanced Fruit Tree Pruning At this workshop, to be held at Pershore College, John Edgeley will take people, who have already attended one of our Fruit Tree Pruning workshops, a step further. Participants should wear working clothes.
Tue 18
2-4pm
SIX Book our two h nd get es a cours of them ONE ree f
£9.00 mem £11.00 non
£65.00 mem £70.00 non (includes sandwich lunch and refreshments)
Lecture/ What Now? – Spring £9.00 mem Demonstration/ Whether you are a new or a keen gardener, £11.00 non Walk Duncan Coombs will help you brush up your skills for tasks such as pruning. He will include a walk round the College grounds to see what is of interest at this time of the year.
MARCH (CONTINUED) Thu 20
7.30pm
Special Event
Joint RHS/Institute of Horticulture Lecture – ‘The Olympic Park Flower Meadows – An Inspiration for Public Green Spaces’ It seems highly likely that a majority of the near 5 million people, who visited the Olympic Park in 2012, were excited, moved or, at the very least, constructively perplexed by the planting they saw. What, therefore, are the ideas and principles that we might extract from the work done to achieve these areas, and how could they apply to other green spaces and gardens around the UK? Dr James Hitchmough, of Sheffield University, was the expert behind the project, so come and get the answers.
Sat 22
9am-4pm
Special Event
The College Nursery Sale The College’s Nursery will be holding a Sale Day.
Tue 25
£7.00 mem £8.50 non
Free For more information ring 01386 551177.
Grow It Yourself – Propagation 1 £9.00 mem In this practical session, Bob Hares will look £11.00 non at the skills and techniques of seed sowing and division, together with aftercare advice.
2-4pm
Lecture
Tue 1
2-4pm
Demonstration Around your Garden in April Seasonal plants and gardening tasks with Bob Hares.
Tue 8
2-4pm
Lecture
Designing and Planting Structure for the Border In this lecture, Carol Smith will explore why a garden needs planting structure. She will look at the design, practical and aesthetic qualities, and how to choose, plan and use structural plants.
£9.00 mem £11.00 non
Sat 12
Depart 8am
Visit
Coach to RHS Flower Show, Cardiff Set in Bute Park, this RHS Spring Show marks the beginning of the RHS’s show season.
Coach £20.00
April £9.00 mem £11.00 non
(you will need to obtain your own show ticket)
APRIL (CONTINUED) Sat 12
10am-1pm Workshop
Mon 14 10.30am4.00pm
Workshop
Floral Designs for Easter Create bespoke designs to decorate your home for Easter.
Creating Willow Structures If you have always wanted to learn the traditional skills of willow weaving, join Norah Kennedy who will show you how to make your own garden structures.
£30.00 mem £35.00 non (includes materials)
£70.00 mem £75.00 non (includes all materials, sandwich lunch and refreshments)
Special Event RHS ‘Growing for Success’ Lecture
More ‘Wow’ and Less Work – Grasses and Their Place in Our Gardens Grasses offer stunning design and easy maintenance. In this lecture, Neil Lucas combines cultural information with his personal gardening philosophy, to bring the story of his work and developments at Knoll Gardens up to date.
Wed 23 Depart -Sat 26 Pershore College 7.30am
Special Event
Tour to the Bulb Fields in Holland Price on Staying in the historic town of Delft, join application us on this tour which will include the world famous Keukenhof Gardens and the Flower Market at Aalsmeer.
Sun 27
11am5pm
Special Event
Spetchley Park Specialist Plant Fair Join us at this annual event with over 30 nursery stands. www.plantfair.co.uk
2-4pm
Lecture/ The Secrets of Successful Container Demonstration Gardening Paul Williams will take you through the techniques for producing a successful container for ‘year round’ interest.
Wed 16 7.30pm
Tue 29
For booking and membership details telephone 01386 554609 or email: rhs@warkscol.ac.uk
£9.00 mem £11.50 non (tea/coffee included) This event is not included in the ‘Book 6 get 1 free’ offer.
Entry £5.00 01531 650480
£9.00 mem £11.00 non
Book two h SIX ou cours es an r d ONE of t get
freehem
MAY Tue 6
2-4pm
Demonstration Around your Garden in May Seasonal plants and gardening tasks with Bob Hares. RHS Malvern Spring Festival
Thu 8Sun 11
Tue 13
2-4pm
Wed 21 Depart 7.30am
£9.00 mem £11.00 non
Enquiries and bookings 01684 584924
Lecture
£9.00 mem The Ornamental World of Non-Edible £11.00 non Legumes Leila Jackson will take you on a journey through the botany, science and ornamental beauty of the legume family, which includes the traditional beauty of the lupins through to more unusual American natives such as Baptisia. Their versatility, colour range and length of flowering make them a ‘must have’ for the garden.
Visit
Coach to Chelsea Flower Show Let us arrange your travel so you can have a stress free visit to this world famous flower show.
Coach £25.00
(you will need to obtain your own show ticket, which should be booked by the end of January)
JUNE Tue 3
2-4pm
Demonstration Around your Garden in June Seasonal plants and gardening tasks with Bob Hares.
Sat 7
10am4pm
Special Event
Pershore College Open Day Displays, demonstrations, plant sales, gardening advice and refreshments.
Free
Tue 10
2-4pm
Lecture
Designing and Planting the Formal Garden What is it that makes a garden formal? Carol Smith will look at how to achieve a formal garden with both hard landscaping and planting.
£9.00 mem £11.00 non
For booking and membership details telephone 01386 554609 or email: rhs@warkscol.ac.uk
£9.00 mem £11.00 non
JUNE (CONTINUED) BBC Gardeners’ World Live at NEC, Birmingham
Wed 11 -Sun 15 Lecture
Aromatica £9.00 mem This talk, by Kim and Rob Hurst from The £11.00 non Cottage Herbery, will cover a selection of aromatic plants and flowers that add perfume, scent and aroma to our gardens, from the numerous mints to the tangy lemon verbena and so many more. They will also discuss their uses past and present.
Wed 18 Depart 8am
Visit
Coach to RHS Garden Rosemoor Enjoy this Summer visit to the RHS Garden in North Devon, when the roses will be at their best.
Tue 24
2-4pm
Lecture
Sat 28
10am-1pm Workshop
Tue 17
2-4pm
Sun 29- Depart Wed 2 Pershore July College
Special Event
Coach £25.00
(entry free for member + family guest)
Grow It Yourself – Propagation 2 In this workshop, Bob Hares will look at softwood and semi-ripe cuttings, together with their aftercare.
£9.00 mem £11.00 non
Floral Designs From Your Garden Create imaginative designs using flowers and foliage from your garden.
£30.00 mem £35.00 non (includes materials)
Summer Garden Tour to Yorkshire Price on Join Duncan Coombs on this tour, based application in York, and visit many gardens including Newby Hall, Scampston Walled Garden and Harlow Carr.
JULY Tue 1
2-4pm
Demonstration Around your Garden in July Seasonal plants and gardening tasks with Bob Hares.
Tue 8
2-4pm
Lecture
My Thirty Best Plants Bob Brown, from Cotswold Garden Flowers, will share with you his thirty best plants and why these are better than their friends.
£9.00 mem £11.00 non
£9.00 mem £11.00 non
JULY (CONTINUED) Wed 9
Depart 7.30am
Visit
Coach to RHS Hampton Court Palace Flower Show Travel by coach to the UK’s largest Flower Show, set in the grounds of Hampton Court Palace.
Coach £25.00 (you will need to obtain your own show ticket)
Tue 15
2-4pm
Lecture/ What Now? – Summer £9.00 mem Demonstration/ Whether you are a new or a keen gardener, £11.00 non Walk Duncan Coombs will help you brush up your skills for tasks such as pruning. He will include a walk round the College grounds to see what is of interest at this time of the year.
Tue 22
2-4pm
Lecture
Designing and Planting the Low Maintenance Garden Does your garden require a lot of hard work to keep it under control? Carol Smith will show you how, with design, planning and planting, you can reduce maintenance to a minimum.
£9.00 mem £11.00 non
Visit
Coach to RHS Flower Show Tatton Park Join us on a visit, on Members’ Day, to the RHS Flower Show at Tatton Park, which is set in the beautiful Cheshire countryside.
Coach £20.00
Wed 23 Depart 8am
Tue 29
2-4pm
Lecture/Walk
(you will need to obtain your own show ticket)
Penstemons and Their Ideal £9.00 mem Planting Partners £11.00 non Jo Yates and Julia Mitchell, from GreenJJam Nursery, will look at Penstemon varieties, old and new, and plants that grow well with them. We will also visit the National Collection held at the college.
august Tue 5
2-4pm
Demonstration Around your Garden in August Seasonal plants and gardening tasks with Bob Hares.
£9.00 mem £11.00 non
Sat 9
1.304.30pm
Workshop
Summer Fruit Tree Pruning This workshop will give you the opportunity for hands-on pruning, to control tree growth and improve fruit colour on both restricted and extensive tree forms.
£13.00 mem £15.00 non
Tue 12
2-4pm
Lecture
£9.00 mem Colour Combinations – from £11.00 non Subtle to Striking This lecture, by Julie Ritchie from Hoo House Nursery, will look at Perennials that are perfect for each other, with soil and season in mind, as well as that eye-catching quality that turns a gardener into an artist with plants.
september Tue 2
2-4pm
Demonstration Around your Garden in September Seasonal plants and gardening tasks with Bob Hares.
Sat 6
Depart 8am
Visit
Tue 9
2-4pm
Lecture
Coach to RHS Wisley Flower Show Join us on a visit to the RHS Garden in Surrey to see some of the late Summer colour and the annual Wisley Flower Show.
A Passion for Climbers Tynings Nursery are specialists in all kinds of climbing plants and hold the National Collections for Passion Flower, Jasmine and Mandevilla. In this lecture they will talk about these and many other climbers including the more unusual.
For booking and membership details telephone 01386 554609 or email: rhs@warkscol.ac.uk
£9.00 mem £11.00 non
Coach £25.00 (entry free for member + family guest)
£9.00 mem £11.00 non
Book two h SIX ou cours es an r d ONE of t get
freehem
september (CONTINUED) Lecture
Planting and Planning for your Spring Bulb Display Frank Hardy will look at how to use bulbs to give a wonderful Spring display in your garden and containers.
£9.00 mem £11.00 non
Tue 16
2-4pm
Sun 21
11am-5pm Special Event
Spetchley Park Specialist Plant Fair www.plantfair.co.uk
Tue 23
2-4pm
The Sustainable Garden This is a particular passion of Carol Smith. She will look at the need for sustainable gardens and how to achieve them, using natural planting schemes to support our wildlife.
£9.00 mem £11.00 non
Malvern Autumn Show
Enquiries and bookings 01684 584924
Workshop
Grow it Yourself – Propagation 3 In this workshop, Bob Hares will look at propagating half hardy plants and early hardwood cuttings, together with their aftercare.
£9.00 mem £11.00 non
Special Event
The College Nursery Sale Free The College’s Nursery will be holding a Sale For more information Day.
Lecture
Sat 27Sun 28
Tue 30
2-4pm
Entry £5.00
01531 650480
october Sat 4
9am-4pm
ring 01386 551177.
Tue 7
2-4pm
Demonstration Around your Garden in October Seasonal plants and gardening tasks with Bob Hares.
For booking and membership details telephone 01386 554609 or email: rhs@warkscol.ac.uk
£9.00 mem £11.00 non
october (CONTINUED) Sat 11
10am-1pm Workshop
Floral Designs for the Harvest Festival Decorate your home and church with the fruits and flowers of Autumn.
£30.00 mem £35.00 non
(includes materials)
Tue 14
7.30pm
Special Event
RHS/Plant Heritage – Ron Sidwell Lecture £8.00 mem – ‘I Believe in the Western Cape’ £9.50 non Specialist nurseryman, Julian Sutton, will give us an introduction to winter-rainfall South African plants, their wild habit and cultivation.
Sat 18
10am4pm
Workshop
Amateur Fruit Juicing & Cider Making This practical workshop will introduce the participants to the delights of making juice from their own fruit. The course will also include guidance on the production of cider, as well as non-alcoholic drinks. (An additional date will be arranged if numbers are high.)
Tue 21
2-4pm
Lecture
Eucalyptus – Troublesome Child or Sim£9.00 mem ply Misunderstood? £11.00 non Hilary Collins will take a brief look at this fascinating genus. Of the 800+ species available, she will examine several that are hardy enough for the UK. She will show you how they can be used to great effect in your garden as a beautiful specimen, a screen, windbreak, for firewood production and cut foliage.
Tue 28
2-4pm
Lecture
£9.00 mem Roses and Peonies – a Marriage Made in Heaven £11.00 non The handsome foliage, flowers and colours of these two highly bred plants go together so well in a border and are easy to grow. In this lecture, Val Bourne will look at the best combinations for modern planting and follow the evolution of the Peony, together with when to move and divide them.
SIX Book our two h nd get es a cours of them ONE ree f
£60.00 mem £65.00 non
(includes light lunch)
november Tue 4
2-4pm
Demonstration Around your Garden in November Seasonal plants and gardening tasks with Bob Hares.
Tue 11
2-4pm
Lecture
What Do I Do with My Existing or New Garden? Carol Smith will explore ways of rejuvenating parts of your existing garden, followed by working with a new garden.
£9.00 mem £11.00 non
Sat 15
10am4pm
Workshop
Fruit Tree Pruning To be held at Hanbury Hall, near Droitwich, this workshop will focus on pruning top fruit. Participants will need to bring their own lunch and wear working clothes.
£60.00 mem £65.00 non
Tue 18
2-4pm
Lecture/ £9.00 mem What Now? – Winter Demonstration/ Whether you are a new or a keen gardener, £11.00 non Walk Duncan Coombs will help you brush up your skills for tasks such as pruning. He will include a walk round the College grounds to see what is of interest at this time of the year.
Tue 25
2-4pm
Lecture
It’s Not Time for Bed Yet – Late Season £9.00 mem Colour in the Garden £11.00 non Helen Picton, from Colwall Nurseries, will look at what will bring colour to your garden as we approach the Autumn/Winter months.
Sat 29
9am-4pm
Special Event
Tree and Hedging Day For further details telephone the Plant Centre on 01386 551149.
For booking and membership details telephone 01386 554609 or email: rhs@warkscol.ac.uk
£9.00 mem £11.00 non
Free
Book two h SIX ou cours es an r d ONE of t get
freehem
december Demonstration Around your Garden in December Seasonal plants and gardening tasks with Bob Hares.
Tue 2
2-4pm
Sat 6
10am-1pm Workshop
Christmas Wreath Making Decorate your door for the festive season.
£9.00 mem £11.00 non
£30.00 mem £35.00 non
(includes materials)
Tue 9
2-4pm
Lecture
Trees for the Small Garden Trees can provide flowers, colour, scent, shade and shelter for the garden but, if poorly selected, can also become too large. Duncan Coombs will talk about trees of predictably small dimensions that, if properly positioned, will not become a problem.
£9.00 mem £11.00 non
Fri 19
10am4pm
Workshop
Floral Designs for Christmas Create floral displays to make the home look festive and colourful for the Christmas season.
£60.00 mem £65.00 non
Repeated
Sat 20
Jill Pearson
RHS Centre Pershore College Avonbank Pershore Worcestershire WR10 3JP T: 01386 554609/552443 E: jpearson@warkscol.ac.uk Pershore College offers the RHS Level 2 and 3 Certificates in the theory and practice of Horticulture. We also offer RHS courses by distance learning. For further information on these and on other courses at Pershore, including Floristry, Landscaping and Garden Design, please contact the college on 01386 552443.
(includes materials)
FREE GARDEN ADVICE Free Garden Advice is available to RHS Members every Tuesday from 9.00am-5.00pm T: 01386 551145 E: dcoombs@warkscol.ac.uk All information in this publication is correct at time of going to print. The RHS Centre and Pershore College cannot guarantee that the events provided will strictly conform to the description in this booklet. Any changes are made in the interests of improvement. If you are planning on visiting the college, please inform us if you have any individual needs, for example access, disabled parking or require emergency evacuation assistance.
RHS Centre Pershore College, Avonbank, Pershore, Worcestershire WR10 3JP T: 01386 554609 // E: rhs@warkscol.ac.uk // warwickshire.ac.uk HOW TO FIND US...
Ofsted rated Grade One Outstanding College