This online course introduces learners to the art of choosing the right tree or shrub to suit its garden setting. With a look at how trees and shrubs grow, learners will find out how and why to prune woody plants to get the desired effect. With information about the right time, tools and techniques for pruning as well as plant specific guidance, learners will complete the course feeling confident about the maintenance of woody plants.
Men dominate the established history of plant hunting, but delving deeper, one discovers an astonishing array of female travellers, from cross dressing sailors to ‘diplomatic wives’ and footloose spinster artists, who collected plants from across the continents.
Take a trip back to the later Middle Ages and find out about the role of plants in medieval medicine. We’ll explore the medieval view of illness – what were the causes of disease thought to be? And what diseases were common? Who did you go to if you got ill and how did they diagnose you? Our main focus will be on the plants involved in the prevention and treatment of disease. Today, some of these plants have proven medicinal benefits and also other uses.
Water is our planet’s most precious resource.
The architect and designer Lancelot ‘Capability’ Brown, born in 1716, is credited with formulating the iconic English landscape garden. Even today, his rolling lawns, scattered with tree clumps and ornamented with glittering lakes, continue to define our perception of rural Britain. As a result, his hundreds of landscapes have eclipsed the study of eighteenth-century garden history almost entirely.
In this morning session you will be guided through some classic poems from Andrew Marvell and John Clare to more contemporary poets of flowers and gardens. You will be encouraged to share your own thoughts through writing a poem or two – even if you have never tried it before. There will be both written and reading exercises. By the end of the session, you will have encountered some of the key forms of poetry and been inspired to begin or develop your own poems.
In this two-part course you will begin to develop your own technique working with watercolour paint. Structured around a restricted palette of five colours we will explore the opportunity of watercolour in depicting the landscape of the Cambridge University Botanic Garden. Led by professional artist and award winning painter John Wiltshire, you will extend your knowledge and experience of the technique with creative and exploratory practical exercises and learn how to apply these approaches in creating your own paintings.
The first online session introduces learners to soil formation and how to cultivate soil to promote its health. Learners will gain an understanding of the science of soils and the variety of life within it. Most importantly you will learn that soil is the foundation of all successful growing and that how we assess, cultivate and care for our soil ensures a healthy and productive garden.
This online course introduces learners to soil formation and how to cultivate soil to promote its health. Learners will gain an understanding of the science of soils and the variety of life within it. Most importantly you will learn that soil is the foundation of all successful growing and that how we assess, cultivate and care for our soil ensures a healthy and productive garden.
