Whether designing a secret garden or an extensive wildflower garden, it's critical to evaluate, document, and sketch out a setting's existing details—built features, water movement, sun exposure throughout growing months, soil types, etc. This online session will help students develop longhand documentation and, more importantly, mark the assessed information, resulting in a visual diagram that provides a clearer understanding of any variables to consider. The more informed you are as a designer, the better a designer you'll be! We strongly recommend students have a scaled base plan before moving forward with this stage. Class Level: Intermediate

Growing plants can be truly fulfilling and enjoyable, and sometimes it can be overwhelming. Gardeners learn by trial and error; however, it can be costly and frustrating. In this two-part online class, Dr. Sonja Birthesel will help you save money and increase gardening success with guidance and insight into horticulture. We'll provide practical information about sustainable garden practices, including an overview of plant biology, adaptation, habit, and cultivation. Class Level: Beginner-Intermediate

Perhaps you love to cut and arrange flowers from your garden, but have you considered growing them from seed? In this class, you'll learn how to grow your favorites and new varieties from seed, including annuals, biennials, and perennials, from cut-flower grower and aficionado, Courtney Locke. As the grower, you'll get to nurture and manage the quality of your plants and save money. Plants grown from seed acclimate to your garden better than those grown elsewhere.

Class Level: Beginner-Intermediate

Strengthen your gardening skills with a focus on best planting practices in this in-person workshop and demonstration. We'll demonstrate how and when to sow seed, plant bare-root plants, and how to transplant both young potted seedlings and much larger, more mature specimens. You'll leave feeling informed about effective planting, including seasonal timing, rootbound plants, planting materials, and proper tools.

Are yellow, wilting, puckered, or folding leaves getting you down? Is Google simultaneously telling you that you're under and over-watering? Enter our staff expert, Garth, to assess, and accurately diagnose your plant problems in real-time, and provide recommendations to resolve the issues. You'll gain the tools to help you identify any more problems you may encounter in the future and even learn how to prevent them when possible. Students are encouraged to bring photo samples of up to two different plant issues for Garth to help identify. To prevent spread, please do not bring live samples of the plant(s). Class Level: All Levels

This class is sold out, but please click "Learn More" to join our waitlist. | Groundcover plants combine beautiful form and function, supporting healthy soils and providing texture and color to any garden. In this class, you'll learn from staff Horticulturalist Jen Dunlap about the wide variety of groundcovers, especially those indigenous to the Northeast. We'll uncover their economic and ecological benefits, such as a solution to replace the need for any other kind of mulch.

Whether designing one garden or several, the first step is to learn the foundation and classical inspirations of garden design. In this visually captivating online class, landscape designer Irene Barber will introduce students to the universal design principles that have evolved from ancient civilizations and are applied as a language that is represented throughout different garden themes and cultures. From kitchen gardens to tea gardens and even permaculture gardens, discover how to apply these diverse foundations and inspirations essential to all designers today. Class Level: Intermediate

Prevent damage and promote healthy plant growth through this four-part series spanning winter to early summer with the Gardens’ Arborist and IPM Specialist, Garth Welch. This hands-on workshop will introduce you to basic pruning objectives and practices, and show you how to effectively apply these methods through the growing season to specific species, from dormancy to active growth. Opening topics covered will include plants and plant physiology, pruning objectives, dormant pruning, and pruning tools; later sessions will cover hydrangea pruning, pruning flowering perennials and shrubs, and conifers. Class level: Beginner-Intermediate

Understanding geography and cultural history is pertinent when making garden design decisions, particularly in New England, which has unique and diverse landscapes. In this introductory online garden design class, students will learn how to establish a sense of place and belonging wherever their prospective garden will be located, from river valleys to rolling fields to narrow, rocky corridors. No matter the elements you want to incorporate, this class will help you get creative while staying true to a sense of place. Class Level: Intermediate

Creating a base plan for your garden may not be considered the most exciting part of the process, but it is an all-important one! This in-person class combines lecture and practicum and will focus on measuring techniques for a new garden area or selected landscape area of your property. We will also develop a base plan, which serves as the beginning stages of capturing existing inventory and conditions. During this session, we will demonstrate how to use scales and translate gathered information into a scaled drawing and a key. Class Level: Intermediate

With a base plan in hand to begin the site inventory process, this class continues the essential work of assessing existing landscape elements that influence design decisions, including topography, hardscape features, water, buildings, wildlife, and more. This online session will help students discover factors they might not have considered before and learn how to document and sketch out a visual diagram that provides a clearer understanding of any variables to consider. Students will practice drafting skills, develop a design key, and evaluate the conditions of features and variables on a site. Class Level: Intermediate