Special Plant Nursery courses

Special Plants Nursery Gardening Courses

The following gardening courses which may be of interest to allotment gardeners are being held at a commercial nursery near Bath. Contact the nursery for dates of the courses.

For more details of these and other courses go to www.specialplants.net/courses

SOWING SEEDS  
How to sow seeds.  Timing, composts and aftercare.  Dealing with dormancy. Pricking out and caring for seedlings

MAKING HAZEL PLANT SUPPORTS  
Cutting hazel wands and weaving them into informal shapes to support both large and small plants.  Simultaneously ornamental, creative and useful.

CUT FLOWER GARDENING   
Planning your garden so you can cut flowers from it all year. What to grow.  How to cut and condition them.

TAKING CUTTINGS  
Learn how new plants grow from cuttings. How to take your cuttings and when. Composts, timing, aftercare.

GARDEN TREES  
How to choose a suitable tree.  The role of single stem vs. multi-stem trees. Best practice planting, staking and formative pruning.  Bare root vs. root balled vs. container grown plants and how this affects planting time and establishment routine.

COLLECTING SEED   
Sowing seeds. Dealing with dormancy.  Pricking out and caring for seedlings.  Collecting, cleaning and storing your own seed. Clean and package several kinds of seed to take home.

GARDENING UNDER GLASS   
How to get the most out of your greenhouse or conservatory, polytunnel or coldframe.  Starting plants off, wintering plants over, flowers all year round

THE ANSWER LIES IN THE SOIL  
Understanding your soil type and its relationship with your plants is the key to successful gardening.  Look at soil types, the role of organic matter and plant nutrition.

PRUNING   
The art of pruning shrubs, fruit trees, perennials, grasses etc for form, vigour & flowering.  When to prune, why to prune, when not to prune.