Woodland Plant Masterclass Day with John Grimshaw and Jimi Blake 2025
Date: Monday, 28th April 2025
Time: 10:30AM - 4PM
It’s that time of year when the garden is springing back to life and preparing itself for an exciting year ahead. Join Jimi Blake as he shares his passion for early spring plants on a walk and talk around the garden, practical demonstrations and an illustrated lecture. Jimi will introduce you to the plants that put on their show at this time of year and explain how best to grow them, how to combine them in the garden to create a stunning spring garden.
John will talk about the background and history of woodland gardens, one of the greatest forms of gardening ever developed. He created a woodland garden at Colesbourne Park, Gloucestershire, and for many years was responsible for the garden in Ray Wood at Castle Howard, North Yorkshire with a wonderful diversity of plants.
He’ll talk about how to develop woodland plantings using the principle of ground flora, shrub layer and canopy trees, whether for a small space or on a much larger scale, and on acidic or alkaline soil. Management and maintenance will also be covered, essential if the plantings are to stay vibrant.
Starting with early bulbs he’ll show a range of plants in each class, including herbaceous plants and ferns, and a diversity of shrubs and trees that will enable you to create a complex, multiseason garden of great interest.
Bio
Dr John Grimshaw is a respected gardener, botanist and author who has written and edited several books including Snowdrops, A Monograph of Cultivated Galanthus with Matt Bishop and Aaron Davis and New Trees, Recent Introductions to Cultivation, with Ross Bayton. He is currently Editor-in Chief of the International Dendrology Society’s Trees and Shrubs Online, a digital encyclopedia of cultivated temperate woody plants, and from October 2024 is Editor-in-Chief of Curtis’s Botanical Magazine for RBG Kew. He was Director and Curator of the Yorkshire Arboretum 2012-24, where he led the creation of the UK’s first Tree Health Centre. He sits on the RHS Woody Plant and Gardens Committees and the Nomenclature and Taxonomy Advisory Group. He was appointed MBE for services to tree health and plant conservation in 2023.
Instagram: @johngrimshaw
Your day with consist of the following:
Illustrated talk on the best plants for growing in shade including shrubs, trees, perennials and bulbs
As we walk through the shade gardens with detailed notes , we will pay particular attention to Hunting Brook’s woodland/spring plant collection and the plants that carry the gardens through the late winter and into spring
During the course we’ll discuss how to create a glorious spring garden, selecting the right plant for the right place and how to combine these in the garden.
Jimi will introduce you to an extensive palette of spring plants and how to bridge the gap from winter into spring
Practical demonstration class where Jimi will explain the jobs that take place in the gardens at this time of year including propagation such as seed sowing and division, pruning, redesigning planting schemes and cultivation techniques.
We will explore the layered gardening techniques used to provide multiple displays in shade even in a small garden.
This is an exceptional opportunity to see Hunting Brook Gardens at this time of year as it bursts into life
Also included:
Tea/Coffee on arrival
Mid-Morning Tea/Coffee and cakes
Please bring a packed lunch
€130
Date: Monday, 28th April 2025
Time: 10:30AM - 4PM
It’s that time of year when the garden is springing back to life and preparing itself for an exciting year ahead. Join Jimi Blake as he shares his passion for early spring plants on a walk and talk around the garden, practical demonstrations and an illustrated lecture. Jimi will introduce you to the plants that put on their show at this time of year and explain how best to grow them, how to combine them in the garden to create a stunning spring garden.
John will talk about the background and history of woodland gardens, one of the greatest forms of gardening ever developed. He created a woodland garden at Colesbourne Park, Gloucestershire, and for many years was responsible for the garden in Ray Wood at Castle Howard, North Yorkshire with a wonderful diversity of plants.
He’ll talk about how to develop woodland plantings using the principle of ground flora, shrub layer and canopy trees, whether for a small space or on a much larger scale, and on acidic or alkaline soil. Management and maintenance will also be covered, essential if the plantings are to stay vibrant.
Starting with early bulbs he’ll show a range of plants in each class, including herbaceous plants and ferns, and a diversity of shrubs and trees that will enable you to create a complex, multiseason garden of great interest.
Bio
Dr John Grimshaw is a respected gardener, botanist and author who has written and edited several books including Snowdrops, A Monograph of Cultivated Galanthus with Matt Bishop and Aaron Davis and New Trees, Recent Introductions to Cultivation, with Ross Bayton. He is currently Editor-in Chief of the International Dendrology Society’s Trees and Shrubs Online, a digital encyclopedia of cultivated temperate woody plants, and from October 2024 is Editor-in-Chief of Curtis’s Botanical Magazine for RBG Kew. He was Director and Curator of the Yorkshire Arboretum 2012-24, where he led the creation of the UK’s first Tree Health Centre. He sits on the RHS Woody Plant and Gardens Committees and the Nomenclature and Taxonomy Advisory Group. He was appointed MBE for services to tree health and plant conservation in 2023.
Instagram: @johngrimshaw
Your day with consist of the following:
Illustrated talk on the best plants for growing in shade including shrubs, trees, perennials and bulbs
As we walk through the shade gardens with detailed notes , we will pay particular attention to Hunting Brook’s woodland/spring plant collection and the plants that carry the gardens through the late winter and into spring
During the course we’ll discuss how to create a glorious spring garden, selecting the right plant for the right place and how to combine these in the garden.
Jimi will introduce you to an extensive palette of spring plants and how to bridge the gap from winter into spring
Practical demonstration class where Jimi will explain the jobs that take place in the gardens at this time of year including propagation such as seed sowing and division, pruning, redesigning planting schemes and cultivation techniques.
We will explore the layered gardening techniques used to provide multiple displays in shade even in a small garden.
This is an exceptional opportunity to see Hunting Brook Gardens at this time of year as it bursts into life
Also included:
Tea/Coffee on arrival
Mid-Morning Tea/Coffee and cakes
Please bring a packed lunch
€130
Date: Monday, 28th April 2025
Time: 10:30AM - 4PM
It’s that time of year when the garden is springing back to life and preparing itself for an exciting year ahead. Join Jimi Blake as he shares his passion for early spring plants on a walk and talk around the garden, practical demonstrations and an illustrated lecture. Jimi will introduce you to the plants that put on their show at this time of year and explain how best to grow them, how to combine them in the garden to create a stunning spring garden.
John will talk about the background and history of woodland gardens, one of the greatest forms of gardening ever developed. He created a woodland garden at Colesbourne Park, Gloucestershire, and for many years was responsible for the garden in Ray Wood at Castle Howard, North Yorkshire with a wonderful diversity of plants.
He’ll talk about how to develop woodland plantings using the principle of ground flora, shrub layer and canopy trees, whether for a small space or on a much larger scale, and on acidic or alkaline soil. Management and maintenance will also be covered, essential if the plantings are to stay vibrant.
Starting with early bulbs he’ll show a range of plants in each class, including herbaceous plants and ferns, and a diversity of shrubs and trees that will enable you to create a complex, multiseason garden of great interest.
Bio
Dr John Grimshaw is a respected gardener, botanist and author who has written and edited several books including Snowdrops, A Monograph of Cultivated Galanthus with Matt Bishop and Aaron Davis and New Trees, Recent Introductions to Cultivation, with Ross Bayton. He is currently Editor-in Chief of the International Dendrology Society’s Trees and Shrubs Online, a digital encyclopedia of cultivated temperate woody plants, and from October 2024 is Editor-in-Chief of Curtis’s Botanical Magazine for RBG Kew. He was Director and Curator of the Yorkshire Arboretum 2012-24, where he led the creation of the UK’s first Tree Health Centre. He sits on the RHS Woody Plant and Gardens Committees and the Nomenclature and Taxonomy Advisory Group. He was appointed MBE for services to tree health and plant conservation in 2023.
Instagram: @johngrimshaw
Your day with consist of the following:
Illustrated talk on the best plants for growing in shade including shrubs, trees, perennials and bulbs
As we walk through the shade gardens with detailed notes , we will pay particular attention to Hunting Brook’s woodland/spring plant collection and the plants that carry the gardens through the late winter and into spring
During the course we’ll discuss how to create a glorious spring garden, selecting the right plant for the right place and how to combine these in the garden.
Jimi will introduce you to an extensive palette of spring plants and how to bridge the gap from winter into spring
Practical demonstration class where Jimi will explain the jobs that take place in the gardens at this time of year including propagation such as seed sowing and division, pruning, redesigning planting schemes and cultivation techniques.
We will explore the layered gardening techniques used to provide multiple displays in shade even in a small garden.
This is an exceptional opportunity to see Hunting Brook Gardens at this time of year as it bursts into life
Also included:
Tea/Coffee on arrival
Mid-Morning Tea/Coffee and cakes
Please bring a packed lunch
€130