2003 SEASON

GARDEN STUDY MORNINGS

with Joe Reardon-Smith
and
Ray Gibbs, Head Gardener

Parham House & Gardens

near Pulborough

West Sussex  RH20 4HS

PARHAM GARDENS  STUDY MORNINGS

Students are assured of a warm welcome to Parham.  Eleven study sessions are offered in 2003, each limited to 12 participants.  Beginning at 9.30 am and finishing at 1 pm, the courses are constructed around practical plant handling.  Students should bring suitable weatherproof clothing, footwear, secateurs and a notebook.  Tea/coffee and biscuits will be provided.  The fee for each individual session is £35.00 per person, with a 5% discount for those students booking a minimum of 3 sessions.  Numbers are limited for each course.

1.     THE HERBACEOUS BORDER IN SPRING  Tues. 11^th March 2003

A study session to encourage the gardener to have confidence to renovate and perhaps re-design herbaceous  plantings.  The student will gain valuable knowledge of division techniques, soil preparation, feeding, mulching, the all-important staking, ideas for prolonging the display and successful plant association.

2.      SPRING PROPAGATION     Tues. 8^th April 2003

Aimed at improving the student's skills in what can be a tricky area, that of growing plants from seed.  Spring is a frantic time for even the most organised gardener; with a little care and attention this fascinating field can be approached with confidence and a secure knowledge that what you sow will grow!

3.      PROLIFIC POTS     Tues. 13^th May 2003

Planting in containers is easy if you follow a few basic rules.  We shall compare the merits of plastic versus terracotta;  learn about composts; feeding; watering; and, all importantly, which plants will repay your loving kindness with a long-lasting magnificent display.

4.     GROWING UP  THE WALL     Tues. 10^th June 2003

 The 'vertical extension' of the garden is rarely exploited to the full.  On this course you will discover the wide range of climbers and shrubs suitable for all wall aspects.  By making full use of the garden at Parham we shall compare those that require support, and in what form this might take, with those happy to climb unaided.  Flowers or foliage, this really is a course for the 'Upwardly Mobile'!

With a little thought, time and imagination, even the smallest garden can produce flowers and foliage for posies, bouquets and tussie-mussies.

7.      PRACTICAL PROPAGATION    Tues. 26^th August 2003

Summer is the ideal time to propagate a vast range of garden plants.  This practical course is designed to give you the necessary skills and confidence, without recourse to expensive equipment, to carry out the varied techniques involved.  From penstemons to pelargoniums, euphorbias to euryops, come and learn how to make, literally, the most of your plants

8.      PROLONGING THE DISPLAY     Tues. 2nd September 2003

 Does your garden fizzle out in Mid-August?  Do the arrival of the first Christmas catalogues send your borders into premature decline?!  Come to Parham to learn of the many herbaceous perennials that contribute to a display lasting well into October.  Tactics such as mulching and dead-heading will be dealt with, along with the use of exciting annuals and late-flowering shrubs.

9.      MAKING THE BEST OF BULBS Tues. 9^th September 2003 NEW!

 Plants have evolved to thrive in a vast range of habitats and exhibit quite different growth patterns and leaf forms.  By recognising the characteristics shown by sun or shade-loving plants, or those thriving in hot, free-draining soils, we can begin to pin-point which plant may be happy in that awkward spot in the garden.

10.       THEORY AND PRACTICE OF PRUNING Tues. 4^th November 2003

Many of us 'shy away' from pruning, leaving plants untouched for too long until we are finally pushed to attempt a massive cut-back, only to be greeted with either renewed growth of obscene vigour or sudden death!  It doesn't have to be this way - with a little knowledge of how a plant grows, how it heals itself and how it responds to pruning, all will begin to make more sense and finally that philadelphus will begin to flower!  Learn what tools to use, how to cut correctly, when to prune, how to prune for flowers or for foliage effects, and much more.  

Gardening involves hard work which, as one grows older become more difficult.  A garden that one can't manage is soon out of control and a worry, no longer a pleasure.  This course will look at ways and means of keeping your garden and your gardening a pleasure and not a burden.

This Grade I Listed Garden is idyllically situated in the heart of a mediaeval Deer Park.  The four-acre walled garden, of eighteenth century origin, comprises an apple orchard, borders devoted to a multitude of cut flowers for the House, a well-stocked herb garden, abundant herbaceous borders, a vegetable garden supplying the House, rose garden, greenhouse with extraordinary floriferous displays of tender perennials, and the Garden Shop (open from April - September) which sells plants grown in the garden.  The eighteenth century Pleasure Grounds contain specimen trees, underplanted with varied spring bulbs.

Whilst the Gardens have seen eras of history come and go and have adapted to the needs and fashions of the times, the setting has remained constant, that of the backdrop of the South Downs, sending wind and rain onto the sandy heathland below.