The Gardening Year 2026
‘The Gardening Year 2026’ with Laura and Jack Willgoss
This year we are offering a series of seven workshops that will provide you with an in-depth view on how we garden here at Wildegoose Nursery. We will once again be running our popular propagation classes and as a new addition to the programme we are running two courses focused on border design: ‘High Summer Borders’ and ‘Autumnal Borders’. The seven workshops will take place over the course of the year and will be run by Jack and Laura Willgoss with a mix (where possible) of demonstrations and hands on practical experience. Workshops can be booked individually or there is a reduced rate of 10% off for those wishing to book on to all seven courses.
Saturday 31st January: ‘Propagation 1- Getting Started’ – 10am-1pm. £60
This course will be an overview of the art of propagation. At this early point in the year, as the new propagation season is just getting underway, get yourself prepared and ready to go with this guide to techniques and timings, tools of the trade and growing mediums to successfully propagate your own plants. There will then be time to practice taking hardwood, stem and root cuttings from the borders here at Wildegoose to take home with you..
NEW ADDITION Friday 27th February – ‘Natural Woven Plant Supports’ – 10am -1pm £60
By popular request we are offering a course to show you how we weave plant supports from hazel here at Wildegoose. The course will demonstrate tepees and archways for climbers and shorter woven nests to support herbaceous perennials and there will be opportunities to participate too. You will need secateurs and if you have loppers you may find these useful to bring along too. This course will be run by Maria Clayfield who is a gardener here at Wildegoose and makes most of our woven structures.
Saturday 28th March – ‘Propagation 2 – Prop til you Drop’ – 10am-1pm £60
With so much to propagate at this time of year this course will go through basal cuttings, spring divisions – (including ornamental grasses), an overview of seed sowing, pricking out and potting on to produce top notch plants. This is a hands on course so bring your secateurs and look forward to taking your newly propagated plants home with you.
Saturday 9th May – ‘Summer Pot Displays’ – 10am-11am £20
After a Summer of drought – pots were the only things this year we allowed ourselves to water. They provided much needed blasts of vibrancy and colour in an otherwise muted garden. This course will demonstrate the best tender perennials and annuals to grow, as well as hardy herbaceous perennials and grasses suited to pots in all sorts of situations. We will demonstrate how to combine pots and how to add a riot of colour, texture and form to your garden throughout Summer and Autumn. We will also demonstrate how easy they are to propagate and overwinter.
Saturday 27th June – ‘High Summer Borders’ – 10am -1pm £60
The first of our border design courses – looking at the principals we follow when putting borders together, alongside succession planting for a long season of interest and plant choice. We will also go on a tour of some of the borders at Wildegoose enjoying this high point in the gardening year – discussing the star plants and analysing the successes and failures you can come across trying to achieve the perfect design.
Saturday 26th September – ‘Autumnal Borders’ – 10am-1pm £60
The second border design courses focusing on the later end of the Season. So often British gardens have gone over by Autumn and been judiciously chopped back, tidied away and put to bed for the Winter – but why? With so many exciting plant choices to keep the season going through Autumn and into Winter, we will be exploring the wide range of late flowering perennials, grasses, coloured stems, hips and berries and fabulous seed heads. We will look at the principals we follow when putting a beautiful border together.
Thursday 26th November – ‘The Garden in Winter’ 10am-11am £20
Looking at what to plant for Winter interest : the best seed heads, berries and hips, leaf and stem colour and not forgetting that all important structure to keep you and the wildlife enjoying your garden even through the harshest Winter months to come.
Price range: £20.00 through £306.00