Do you have an overgrown and neglected orchard and don’t know where to start? Would you like to establish a new orchard or fruit garden? Would you like to include decorative forms of fruit trees in your ornamental garden or potager? At Le Jardin Créatif we have years of experience in specialist pruning and training of fruit trees and run a range of half day and full day courses and workshops during February and early March covering different types of pruning and training of fruits. Each course will cover the basic botanical principles that are useful to know for understanding the practical techniques. This is then followed up with practical demonstrations and the opportunity to practice the techniques. The courses are designed so that they can be accessed separately to cover one specialist subject, or you can book onto two or all three to benefit from the full range of information or you can book us to come out for a bespoke session at your own orchard.

Half day workshop: Pruning and Training of young orchard trees; How to plan, plant and train a young orchard of ‘top fruits’; this half day course will cover the principles of choosing and planting orchard trees and will look at the principles and practices of training young standard trees for maximum health and productivity. We will also look at a range of bush fruits if time allows. This workshop will take place at Le Jardin Créatif on 15^th February 1-4pm.  35€ (6 places available)

Half day workshop: Training of decorative forms of Fruit: This half day specialist course takes place at Le Jardin Créatif and explores the training and pruning of decorative forms of tree including espalier, fan, and cordon forms from initial planting and training to ongoing maintenance. These specialist forms are excellent for smaller gardens and for adding decorative dividers and boundaries to your garden or potager. Tuesday 16^th February 1-4pm. 35€ (6 places available)

We also run half day ‘Grafting’ workshops in February where you can learn the art and science of Grafting and graft your own fruit trees. 40€ per person. You will take home 2 grafted apple trees on dwarfing rootstocks, you will have a choice of varieties from our heritage apple collection. We are running a session on Thursday 18^th February 1-4pm, or we can do a group booking on a date to suit. This could be combined with any of the above dates. (6 places available)

Pruning, maintenance and renovation of mature orchard trees Individual consultation; We are offering half day and full day sessions where we come out to your orchard and give you guidance and training in the renovation and management of a mature or overgrown orchard. Starting with a little plant physiology to help you to understand the principles of how different pruning techniques affect the flow of energy around the tree and the influence on plant growth. We will discuss a management plan for your orchard renovation, followed by a demonstration and practical training in the techniques, any remaining time will be spent helping you to carry out the pruning. Half day workshop 100€ Full day workshop 200€ plus travel expenses. (We bring our own tools, packed lunch and both of us!)

To book onto any of the above courses please use the contact form below to request booking information, individual consultation, group bookings or further information about any of the courses. Places are limited but we can put extra dates on if necessary.

This year we will be running a choice of workshops in December:

Traditional Christmas Wreath – A pair of Chicken Wire Robins.

Because of the current situation we are advertising most of our dates as ‘bubble group’ bookings; where you choose a date and an activity and come along together with people that you meet regularly with. The sessions are 1-4pm (although there is some flexibility for group bookings) and will include all materials and light refreshments. Each workshop is 35 euros per person. All dates will be booked on ‘first come first served basis’ if your chosen date has already been reserved, please get in touch to see what alternatives we can offer.

Please note that we cannot ‘mix and match’ wreaths and robins on the same workshop, but we could offer a full day covering the two activities if your group wants to make both. (bring a packed lunch)

We have the following dates available for ‘Bubble Bookings’ (minimum of 4 people and maximum of 6 or 7):

Wednesday 9th, (Provisionally reserved)

Thursday 10th, Saturday 12th December (Saturday 12th now reserved)

Wednesday 16th, Thursday 17th, Saturday 19th December: still available

For individual bookings and groups of less than 4:

Tuesday 8th – Robins (now fully booked)

Tuesday 15th December (Now reserved)

Please use the contact form below to enquire about places/availability and to request booking information or to enquire about any different dates: