The English Gardening School

Short Gardening Courses / Events

At the request of past graduates eager to continue their learning enjoyment of all things gardening, we occasionally offer a specialist short course or event covering topical and seasonal aspects of garden design and planting.

Making use of our vast horticultural network, the days vary between lectures by leading personalities and visits of rarely viewed private gardens or nurseries with collections of unusual plants.

Short Gardening Courses from The English Gardening School

Our Short Gardening Courses

Short

Gardening for Beginners 2026

Often given as an unusual and useful present! Our popular course is led by master horticulturist Ben Pope with the opportunity to study at the Chelsea Physic Garden and in two private gardens

  Do you have a potentially good garden but do not know where to begin? The first 3 days of this popular 4 day course take place in the Chelsea Physic Garden lecture room with the final day spent in two private gardens near Petersfield. Your tutor is RHS Master ...

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Short

Introduction to Garden Design 2026

An Introduction to Garden Design

Do you have ideas for your garden but struggle to know how to turn them into a successful design? This practical and highly visual two-day course introduces the essential principles of garden design, helping you understand how to organise and shape outdoor space with confidence. Led by ...

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Short

Planting Design with Nick Bailey

The course is tailored to keen gardeners and garden designers who want to elevate their planting design and take their designs to the next level.

Join us for an intensive 4-day planting design course with Nick Bailey, one of the UK’s leading plantsmen and garden designers. Nick is known for his interactive teaching style, dynamic design approach and innovative ideas around the art, craft and science of planting design. This course is ...

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Short

EGS Autumn Garden Tour – Ashington Manor and Yews Farm

EGS Autumn Garden Tour

Ashington Manor The gardens at Ashington Manor, created by Isabel and Julian Bannerman, surround a historic house and are designed with a strong sense of structure, atmosphere and narrative. The layout combines formal elements with more informal planting, creating a series of distinctive garden spaces. Features include ...

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Short

The Making of a Garden with Troy Scott Smith PAST

The Making of a Garden with Troy Scott Smith

Join us for an inspiring day on site at a new 5-acre garden near Bath, currently being designed and developed by renowned head gardener and plantsman Troy Scott Smith. This exclusive alumni event offers a rare opportunity to see a garden in its formative stages and to ...

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Short

Garden Makers Day

The English Gardening School looks forward to welcoming gardening enthusiasts to this exciting opportunity to hear from experts and enjoy a fun event leading into your Christmas celebrations

Jo Thompson   Rachel de Thame  Ann-Marie Powell Jo Thompson is one of the UK’s leading garden designers, celebrated for her romantic, painterly planting and instinctive, atmospheric approach to design. A multi-gold medal winner at the RHS Chelsea Flower Show, she creates beautifully crafted, sustainable gardens that ...

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