‘The Gardening Year’, is a a series of morning classes with Deborah designed to teach real skills and give practical hands-on experience in the ornamental garden. These classes will take place on the second Friday of each month from April to October and can be enjoyed as individual classes or taken together to achieve a complete course. They are aimed to educate, motivate & inspire you to get the very best out of your own garden.

Each morning session will start with a walk around the garden to see what is looking good that month, this will help you make the best plant selections for your own spaces. We will cover seasonal jobs and get hands on with seed sowing, propagation, pruning and planting and I will share with you lots of tips and tricks I’ve learned over my 35 years of gardening here at Terra Nova.

Here’s everything you need to know….

• These classes are designed to be a relaxing experience in a beautiful garden setting in the company of like-minded people
• Classes are limited to 8 people to ensure lots of personal attention
• All Classes are from 10am to 1pm and cost €40 each
• Book on my website www.terranova.ie

• If classes book out and there is enough demand, I am happy to run the class again another day and I will add this option to my website

The class includes tea, coffee and homemade cakes and a nice selection of plants, cuttings or seeds to take home with you.

• Parking is roadside but please do not park outside my neighbours house. Thank you.

Spring Into The Garden

The April Garden – Friday April 10th

April brings one of the most exciting, high-energy moments in the gardening year as plants explode back into life, literally growing right in front of your very eyes! Today we will explore spring bulbs and early flowering beauties such as hellebores, trilliums and primulas. We will look at an innovative method of seed sowing and you will sow your own seed snail to take home with you. We will cover making new plants by divisions and there will be some for everyone in the audience! Along with last minute pruning, there are plenty of jobs to do this month, so be sure to bring a notebook and pen to jot them all down. And of course, no class could be complete without dealing with the issue that all of us have and none of us want – WEEDS!

Let’s Get Gardening

The May Garden – Friday May 8^th

The garden is in full swing now, trees are coming into leaf and borders have filled out. So it’s a good time to assess the garden and make a shopping list to fill any gaps left after the winter. We will look at the best plants for May and how to fill the notorious ‘May Gap’ the weeks between the end of the spring bulbs and bedding and the beginning of the summer colour. We will discuss tips and tricks to get the most out of our plants, including flower extending techniques such as ‘The Chelsea Chop’. We will sow a few last-minute annual seeds to provide us with flowers from June onwards. Garden centres are full to the brim with bedding and tender patio plants now and we will explore which ones will give us the best value over the summer months.

Elements Of Garden Design

The June Garden – Friday June 12^th

During this morning’s walk, we will examine the function and use of design features in the garden. From seating to pools, planters and décor, archways to bridges, pathways and screens, I will show you how to add dynamic new features to your own gardens. There’s functionality and frivolity aplenty in Terra Nova and you will find a rich abundance of design ideas that you can adapt to your own garden. And of course we won’t be forgetting about the plants either – June is one of nature’s most bounteous gifts and we will explore the amazing range of plants in the garden.

The Flower Garden

The July Garden – Friday July 10^th

It’s high summer and there’s so much to enjoy. This month will be a plant rich exploration of how to get the best from your borders. We will look at the top performing perennials and how to care for them. We will create a check list of jobs to do this month, including feeding, deadheading and cutting back. July is a good month to sow biennials for flowering next year, and we will sow a selection of seeds including foxgloves and honesty for you to take home

High Summer

The August Garden – Friday August 14^th

The lazy hazy days of summer are here and if we are not enjoying a beach somewhere we are most likely to be found relaxing in our gardens. August marks the arrival of all the drama queens, the exotics that have been waiting for their moment in the spotlight. Dahlias are filling borders with their flamboyant blooms, lilies, cannas and even bananas if you are so inclined.  Although it is indeed a month to relax and enjoy your labours, there are still jobs to be done, including cutting back, staking and taking cuttings and sowing seeds to make new plants for next year.

Autumn Arrives

The September Garden – Friday September 11^th

As the garden settles into autumn, it’s time to turn our thoughts to spring. Garden centres and online shops are now offering a full range of spring flowering bulbs such as Narcissus, tulips, muscari, hyacinths etc. Let’s look at where are the best places to grow them and make a shopping list! Plants are producing seeds now and we will collect some for you to take home and talk about how to save them for sowing next spring. We will also take cuttings of tender plants to overwinter inside. The borders at Terra Nova are still full and lush and we will take a look at the best plants to extend the gardening year past the summer and into autumn.

Fall In Love With Your Garden

The October Garden – Friday October 9^th

As the garden begins to wind down, in this last class of the year we will look both backwards and forwards, assess our garden year and make plans for 2027. We will celebrate our successes and figure out how to avoid the mistakes and failures next year! Cutting back begins in earnest and the compost bins are filling up fast. As the gaps begin to appear in the borders now is the perfect time to plant bulbs and any biennials that we grew from seeds in the summer. October is an ideal time to divide perennials and you will be dividing some yourself to take some home  for your own garden. We will also cover topics such as overwintering tender plants and mulching the garden for winter.

A Little Bit About Terra Nova Garden

Terra Nova is known as a beautifully designed and richly planted half-acre ornamental garden in the Golden Vale of Co. Limerick. It has been featured many times in books, magazines, newspapers, radio and TV and has won many awards including the prestigious title of “Best Garden in Ireland” The garden is full of imaginative features, unusual plants and little surprises around every corner. The garden is ever evolving; nothing stands still at Terra Nova! We have been welcoming visitors since 1999 and you can visit the garden most days by appointment from April – October.