RHS award winning John Horsey MA runs private courses in Axminster, Devon. The courses allow more time for learning and avoid the stress of examinations and assignments. This is the basis of the Diploma in Horticulture as well as the Certificate in Garden History.
Our Diploma in Horticulture and Garden History courses are designed to give you a detailed and working knowledge without the stress of examinations, assessments or assignments. The emphasis is very much on conservation, sustainability and ecology within the environment.
The courses take place in the purpose-built meeting room at Burrow Farm Gardens at Dalwood, near Axminster on the Devonshire/Somerset county boundaries. The very extensive gardens themselves, have been created over the last 50 years with a range of different styles.
Our courses are designed to give you a detailed and working knowledge of horticulture, garden design and garden history but without the stress of examinations, assessments or assignments. The emphasis is very much on conservation, sustainability and ecology within the environment. The courses run for one day a week throughout the school academic year.
Enjoy time spent with new, like minded friends in an idyllic setting on the Somerset/ Devon border.
This September we are offering the Certificate in Garden History and the Diploma in Horticulture will start again in 2019, but there is always an option to join in with existing groups.
Students who complete the courses with suitable attendance and application are awarded the appropriate certificates.
From planting out onion sets to sowing broad beans in Autumn, your reward will be an early harvest next year 🌱 Check out John’s quick video demonstrations by clicking on the playlist below giving you the best tips and advice for growing onion, garlic and...
Plants are an expensive business so a great way to increase your stock for your garden is by taking semi-ripe cuttings from those that you have already growing. Semi-ripe cuttings are great for a wide range evergreen shrubs, trees, herbs, climbers and ground-cover plants. This...
Tiger’s Jaws (Faucaria tigrina) and Echeveria elegans are tender succulents which keep on giving with their offsets as it is super easy to propagate these plants using them. Our videos below are very similar but it is worth using both as examples of this kind...
These lovely exotic plants are from a very diverse plant group and there is a succulent to suit everyone. There are succulents that can remain outside all year including in colder climates as some varieties are more hardy than others. Hardy succulents often grow better...
VIDEO TUTORIAL BELOW Now our tomatoes are growing… So now that our Black Sea Man tomatoes have been planted using ring culture – click here for our video tutorial – it is time to train them up our canes. To Grow We are lucky to...
VIDEO TUTORIAL BELOW “Gardener’s Delight” – A Sweet & Juicy Bush Tomato So how to grow cherry tomatoes from seed? Our variety which we love is the bush tomato “Gardener’s Delight” and is shown in the video tutorial below. This sweet, juicy cherry tomato does...
HOW TO DIVIDE AGAPANTHUS VIDEO TUTORIAL BELOW We have chosen Agapanthus ‘Indigo Dreams’ to show how to divide your perennial plant. Agapanthus bloom in summer with large, mainly blue flowers. Furthermore, they are very good as container plants and the evergreen forms are not so...
VIDEO TUTORIAL BELOW Tomato – Solanum lycopersicum. Growing tomatoes using ring culture is a very space saving and easy way to grow your tomatoes – the rings and grow bag really help the water and nutrients feed the roots well for healthy plants...
VIDEO TUTORIAL BELOW Our Tom Thumbs Not long ago we sowed our Tom Thumbs, put them in our garden room and they came along a treat so last Thursday we pricked them out and are looking forward to eating our salad crop in due course!...
Below is our series on showing you how to care for your perennials during the year. Our penstemon is “Evelyn” . The great thing about perennials is that they keep on giving year after year. They look lovely in herbaceous and mixed borders bringing to...
VIDEO TUTORIAL BELOW Growing Sweet Pea Seeds using Loo Roll! Whilst thinking about growing sweet pea seeds, at the time of writing, we are still in lockdown and for a couple of weeks previously when there was much in the press about panic buying, loo...
VIDEO TUTORIAL BELOW How to make a beer trap for slugs and snails? This is a great tip for protecting your plants from the terror of those slugs and snails decimating all your hard work. Beer Traps are Sustainable This beer trap for slugs and...
What is Intercropping? So, how to intercrop potatoes & lettuce in a bag? Intercropping means growing one quick growing crop between another slow growing crop. The quick crop will be harvested before the slower growing crop. We have planted our chitted potatoes with lettuce and...
How to Chit Potatoes – this video shows you how to sprout potatoes inside before planting out in the garden. What’s more, this is very child-friendly and great to get them involved! We are chitting Arran Pilots and Kestrels in empty egg boxes – space...
John shows you how to grow lettuce seeds (Lactuca sativa) very quickly and easily. Our variety is Tom Thumb, a butterhead lettuce which can tolerate poorer growing conditions than others and you will find matures quickly. Furthermore, Tom Thumb is a smaller butterhead lettuce and...
How to take Root Cuttings from Tree Peonies – John shows you how to take root cuttings from our tree peony Paeonia x. lemoinei “Argosy”. Furthermore, this method of propagation is good for many other herbaceous plants, e.g. Primulas, oriental poppies, Phlox, Acanthus. To Start…...
This quick video shows you how to divide snowdrops after flowering for a full display in your garden.
