Sunday 6th April

Sunday 11th May

Sunday 8th June

Sunday 20th July

10am – 3.30pm with Debbie Wilson and Sue Mabberley 

Nant-y-Bedd, Fforest Coal Pit, Abergavenny, NP7 7LY 

There are lots of ideas about wild gardening pinging around online and in the media, but it can all be a bit bewildering when you first begin to try it. And it’s not always at all clear what kind of garden you might end up with! Can you leave plants to grow naturally (without ending up with an unholy mess!) and achieve a garden that pleases you – that looks good as well as cared for? We aim to help you understand and manage the ways plants grow and interact with each other so you can better use the rhythms of the gardening year to your advantage. 

This year we are repeating last year’s very successful series of wild gardening workshops on how to manage the wild garden, looking at different aspects of the gardening process at different times of year. There are so many things to cover we thought we’d increase it to four workshops this year. The workshops are designed as an integrated course though you don’t have to book for all of them. However, we do recommend that you come to the first one, if you can, as this lays the ground for all the ones that follow, and you will get more out of the other workshops if you’ve been to the first one. 

In this course, then, we will be looking both at the philosophy and rationale behind wild gardening and at the practicalities of seasonal tasks. Why should we be wild gardening anyway? How do we cut down on expensive instant gardening, use sustainable materials, encourage soil health, increase biodiversity of plant, bird and insect-life and develop sustainable plant communities? What can we leave to its own devices and when do we have to step in and intervene? What do we want our garden to look like and how does wild gardening fit with the need for controlled design? 

For more details on each day click the relevant workshop below.

WORKSHOP 1 – The Idea of Sustainability and how to Put it into Practice – Sunday 6th April 

WORKSHOP 2 – The Beginnings of Natural Succession: Seeds, Self-seeders and Natives -Sunday 11th May 

WORKSHOP 3 – Managing the Garden as it Changes: Must We Weed? – Sunday 8th June 

WORKSHOP 4 – Meadows and mowing, Experimenting, Seed-collecting, and Forward Planning – Sunday 20th July 

The series of workshops will cover:
● Understanding different types of plants, their growth, habitats and place in natural succession
● Growing plants from seed and managing self-seeders ● To weed or not to weed and the winter die-down ● Planting into an established base● Creating legibility and developing your own style 

Level of expertise required? some gardening experience an advantage but not absolutely necessary. 

Bring with you Sensible shoes and outdoor wear

Go away with lots of ideas to try out and a pocketful of seeds collected from the garden. 

Booking a place Places are limited to 10 to ensure maximum opportunity for discussion. 

Cost £80 per day (plus booking fee) 

The course will be led by Sue Mabberley and Debbie Wilson. Sue has a First-Class Honours degree in Environmental Systems, has professionally devised and delivered practical environmental training courses and most importantly has gardened wildly and enthusiastically at Nant-y-Bedd Garden for more than 44 years! 

Debbie Wilson is not a professional gardener, but she has spent the past 12 years enthusiastically trying out as many varieties of wild gardening as she could find.