Natural Garden Structures

with Jacky Mills and Alison Jenkins

A one day workshop offered on the following dates:

Thursday 9 February 2023

Friday 10 Feburary 2023

Friday 24 February 2023

Saturday 25 February 2023

10am - 4pm (arrive at 9.30 for coffee/tea)

£120.00

Group Size - 10 people

Natural Garden Structures not only serve a practical function such as supporting your plants or providing a framework for protection but can also add a lot of character and interest to your garden throughout the year. Using entirely organic materials such as hazel, willow and birch will also mean that the entire structure can be composted at the end of its life.

The emphasis of the day will be to inspire you with a whole range of ideas for creating different kinds of structures and give you a few techniques to get you started. We will start by looking at sourcing materials, coppicing and how to prepare your material.

We will show you a variety of different weaving techniques and how to make a willow withy tie to secure your supports without the need for plastic ties or string. After practicing handling different materials by making some wreaths we will go onto making larger structures such as rose domes and perennial supports as well as looking at how to embellish bean pole rows and teepees with twisted hazel rods and willow.  

Jacky Mills is a gardener and artist. She wrote a three part series with Kristy Ramage for Gardens Illustrated in 2017 entitled:  Natural Structures in the Garden, looking at different ways to incorporate natural materials into the garden which inspired Alison to start being more creative with the structures at Damson Farm.

Lunch 

Alison will prepare a simple vegetarian lunch including produce from the garden. We will round up the day with tea and cake. If you have any specific dietary requests do let us know on the booking form.

What to Bring 

 Please bring your own secateurs.  We will be spending part of the day outdoors so please dress appropriately with waterproof gear.  You may wish to bring a notebook, camera and your own water bottle.     All other materials will be supplied.

Getting Here

Directions will be emailed to you a couple of weeks before the workshop. Use Damson Farm rather than the postcode on Google Maps.

Cancellation policy

As a small business it’s not sustainable to offer refunds. However if you need to cancel your place up to 28 days before the event you will be offered a credit towards another workshop.   After that time, the offer only applies if we’ve been able to re-sell the place. It’s not possible to promote cancelled places for re-sale less than 4 days before the event.