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IMG_0428Have a go at woodturning using traditional tools for greenwood crafting. You will create a ‘blank’ from a log section and turn it down into a garden dibber or sting line.

This course is suitable for beginners and can lead to intermediate courses where you can learn how to make a stool.

The course will run from 10.00am – 3.00pm with a break for lunch. Lunch and light refreshments are included in the price along with all materials. Cost per person 40 Euros. There are courses available on Thursday 8th March and Saturday 10th March.

Using a traditional pole lathe required a certain level of fitness as it is operated using your own pedal power! However there will be time to take rests and we can help with this a little if necessary. You will need to wear warm work clothing and sturdy shoes or boots.

We will send you confirmation and further information once we have received your payment.

To book onto Thursday 8th March use the buy now button below:

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Have you ever wanted to try the skill of grafting? This specialist propagation technique takes a little patience and practice but can be mastered by beginners with a little guidance. We are offering this half day course on either Thursday 1st February or Saturday 3rd February 2018 1.00pm-4.00pm. 35 Euros per person including all materials and light refreshments.

You will learn a little about the science behind the technique and then have a go at Graft2 (2)grafting your own fruit tree. We will provide you with a dwarfing rootstock and an apple variety to graft but if you have your own tree that you would like to propagate then please bring some along, use the contact form below to contact us to find out how to harvest grafting material from your tree.

All tools and materials will be provided. Please wear warm work clothing. This technique does need some manual dexterity and patience! You will take home your grafted maiden tree with full instructions on how to care for it in the first year to maximise success.

(Typical success rates for grafted trees is around 75% but if your graft doesn’t work first time you can use the rootstock again to have another go).

We will send you confirmation and further information once we have received your payment.

To book a place on Thursday 1st February use the buy now button below:

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To book a place on Saturday 3rd February use the buy now button below:

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Have a go at chicken wire sculpture and make a cute hedgehog to display in your garden or give to someone as a gift.

This course is aimed at beginners and will teach the basics of sculpturing with chicken wire. The course will run from 11.00-3.00 and we are offering the option of two dates as this is always a popular activity. You can book onto either Thursday 22nd February or Saturday 24th February. 35 Euros per person. A light lunch is included as well as all materials and you will be able to take home your hedgehog.

You will need to wear warm comfortable work clothes and bring some gardening gloves.

IMG_0162If you enjoy this beginners course we will be offering intermediate courses later this spring to make chicken, cockerel or duck sculptures for the garden.

We will send you confirmation and further information once we have received your payment.

To book onto Thursday 22nd February use the buy now button below:

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To book onto Saturday 24th February use the buy now button below:

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This two part course will look at the theory behind the techniques used to prune a range of fruit trees for health and productivity as well as a demonstration of pruning both young and mature trees. We will also discuss renovation of neglected or badly pruned trees. There will be an option of an additional session visiting one of our student’s orchards to do a bespoke session if numbers are sufficient.

Part 1: How do plant hormones influence growth and how can we use our understanding of the processes to prune our trees for maximum health and best fruiting? A theory session looking at plant growth, pruning techniques and training of young trees. How to tackle a neglected tree and improve health. 2 hours (morning)

Part 2: Practical pruning demonstration and the opportunity to have a go. Advanced techniques covering espaliers and trained forms of tree. Question and answer session for your own pruning problems. 2 hours (afternoon)

The course will run from 10.00am – 2.30pm with a half hour lunch break. A light lunch will be provided. Please wear warm work clothes appropriate to the weather as there will be some outdoor activities. Cost of the course is 35 euros per person including lunch.

Courses running on Thursday 1st March and Saturday 3rd March. We will send you confirmation and further information once we have received your payment.

To book onto Thursday 1st March use the pay now button below:

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IMG_0227Have you ever wondered why the leaves on deciduous trees change colour in the autumn?

Most of us will have a vague memory from science class at school that chlorophyll is the name for the green pigment found in leaves that acts like thousands of miniature solar panels capturing the energy from sunlight and converting it into energy that can be stored in the form of carbohydrates or sugar. This energy is used by plants for growth and is also the main source of carbohydrates that passes up the food chain feeding the world and also providing fuel and building materials.

IMG_1200Chlorophyll reacts to certain wavelengths of light but these are limited, to make the most of the light spectrum plants also use other pigments similar to carotene that can react with a wider range of the spectrum. These colours are hidden by the intensity of the green chlorophyll in plants with green leaves. However, once the days start to shorten and the temperatures drop this triggers a process called abscission, in simple terms ‘leaf fall’. Plants need to be thrifty though, the main elements that make up chlorophyll are iron and magnesium but these can be in short supply within the soil when the trees come into leaf in the spring so the trees carefully extract these elements, drawing them back into the tree to store away ready for the first flush of growth in the spring.  This is when the other pigments are revealed giving us the fantastic display of autumn colours.

Next spring at Le Jardin Creatif we will look at harnessing these colours to use as natural fabric dyes so follow our pots to find out more and sign up for one of our workshops. If you want to find out more about how plants work we will also be offering short courses in botany. Follow our blog at https://lejardincreatif.net or follow us on Facebook to keep up to date.

 

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IMG_0160This half day course will teach you some basic weaving techniques through the creation of a hanging fatball bird feeder. These make great gifts and are an attractive garden feature.

A perfect option for beginners wanting to develop new skills. We are running this course on Thursday 8th February or Saturday 10th February 2018. 1.00pm – 4.00pm. You will need to wear warm work clothing. Light refreshments and all materials are included in the cost of 25 euros per person. We will send you confirmation and further information once we have received your payment.

To book onto Thursday 8th February use the buy now button below:

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To book onto Saturday 10th February use the link below:

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carolinewright201's avatargardencraftblog

Allium ‘Hair‘ is a most unusual decorative member of the onion family. Many ornamental alliums are grown for their striking rounded umbel of flowers and the almost equally decorative seed heads that follow.

What is unusual about Allium ‘Hair’ is that the decorative effect is created by numerous purply/red miniature bulbs growing on the top of the ‘flower stem’, the wild ‘hair’ effect is created from tiny green shoots that twist and bend to create an overall effect.

IMG_0804These alliums make superb contemporary cut flowers because they last well with no petals to fade, they are also excellent when planted in big groups within planting schemes of ornamental grasses, herbaceous perennials and other bulbs. They are a particularly good contrast with the lovely soft feathery grass Stipa tenuissima ‘Pony Tails’

(Shown here growing with Astrantia major)

Alliums require a sunny spot and a well drained soil, if they are…

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carolinewright201's avatargardencraftblog

Gooseberries are not everyones cup of tea but if you grow them yourself or have access to fresh picked gooseberries there are lots of tasty things that you can do in addition to the traditional crumble, they make a perfect chunky sauce to go with mackerell, gooseberry gin liqueur is well worth the wait and gooseberry jelly is a great accompaniment to savory foods as well as making an interesting alternative to marmalade.

If you have plenty of gooseberries then gooseberry and chilli relish is easy to make and is really tasty with cheese and cold meats if you like something tangy and spicy on the side.

The time consuming bit is chopping the gooseberries. For 4 medium jarts of relish I chopped one large punnet (from picture above) Each gooseberry should be sliced in half then each half into two or four depending on its size. Then finely chop…

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After several experiments printing onto fabric using plants I decided to have a go at printing onto paper having seen some examples of what can be achieved.

This first attempt was really an experiment into what sort of paper is best and what results are possible from different plants. Having read that a heavy grade of paper is best I dug out some large sheets of blotting paper and an old water colour pad. I soaked these in an alum mordant solution for a few hours before adding the foliage and flowers. I was a bit worried that the paper might disintegrate but although it was a little fragile with careful handling I managed to spread out the sheets, lay out some different plants and fold up the paper to fit into my steaming pan.

The sheets were then steamed for an hour and a half by which time I could see the colours coming through so I let them cool before carefully opening them up, removing the leaves and spreading out in the sun to dry.

The Cotinus  coggygria ‘Royal Purple’ came out well as it does on fabric, the Crocosmia flowers and fennel leaves also created strong impressions and the Geranium leaves gave a sort of watercolour effect.

A fair first attempt but more experimenting needed to get stronger images on the paper, watch this space!