Short Courses & Workshops
These courses are designed for homeowners, hobby gardeners, and professionals who wish to expand their knowledge of specific plant groups or a particular gardening topic.
Useful and practical information on the care of certain plants or specific gardening techniques will add to your knowledge, whatever your level of gardening experience. Longwood offers the opportunity to learn directly from our gardeners and horticulturists in the unique Longwood learning environment. These courses require no prerequisites and beginners are welcome. Try one!
Courses:
Moonlight Magic
DATE: Wednesday, July 21, 9:30 to 11:30 pm
FEE: $27 Garden pass member / $30 non-member
WHERE: Acer Room
SOLD OUT
or
DATE: Saturday, October 23, 9:30 to 11:30 pm
FEE: $27 Garden pass member / $30 non-member
WHERE: Acer Room
SOLD OUT
with Alan Petravich and Koa Kanamee
The beauty of the night will be revealed in this private moon-lit tour through Longwood Gardens. Participants will have the rare opportunity to enjoy Longwood’s magic under the spell of a full moon. Longwood gardeners will lead the group through the meadow, woods, Conservatory, and lily ponds, concluding the tour at the recently added moon garden. Together everyone will discover the beauty of the night. Refreshments will be provided at a secluded stop.
Inclement weather date: July 25 or October 24.
Lavender Wreath
DATE: Wednesday, September 8, 6:00 to 9:00 pm
FEE: $63 Garden pass member / $70 non-member
WHERE: Acer Room
Incredibly (and naturally) fragrant, nothing quite equals lavender when it comes to fragrance and understated beauty. Working with combined shades of periwinkle blue English lavender, a twig base and lovely sheer lavender ribbon, you’ll create a simple yet elegant wreath. Your gorgeous wreath will make the perfect addition to any space and will intoxicate you with the refreshing smell of lavender. Very fragrant and beautiful! This wreath will last for years!
Evening in the Water Garden
SOLD OUT
DATE: Friday, September 10, 6:30 to 9:00 pm
FEE: $81 Garden pass member / $90 non-member
WHERE: Acer Room & Waterlily Display
with Tim Jennings, Patrick Nutt, Ed Somers
One of Longwood's most magnificent autumn highlights is the Waterlily Display, located in the courtyard of the Main Conservatory. For this unique evening session, join Longwood's waterlily experts for an introduction to the waterlily display.
The culture, care, and maintenance of aquatic plants, water gardens, and marginal plantings will be discussed. Enjoy the early evening around the waterlily pools, adjourn to the Orchid Display Room for dinner, and reconvene outside as the night-blooming lilies are beginning to open. Join us to be informed, enchanted, and well fed - an unbeatable combination!
Inclement weather date: September 17
Leaf it!
SOLD OUT
DATE: Saturdays, September 11 & 18, 2 sessions; 9:00 am to 12:00 Noon (9/11); 10:00 am to 12:00 Noon (9/18)
FEE: $81 Garden pass member / $90 non-member
WHERE: Betula Room & Soil Shed
Join Chanticleer's Jonathan Wright to make a leaf sculpture to use as a platter, birdbath, or stepping stone. Using Jonathan’s unique concrete mix and guidance you’ll capture the beauty of summer’s best to treasure forever. Each student will receive an oversized leaf which will become the mold for your creation. Choose from a number of dyes to customize your sculpture. In the first session, you’ll learn this technique and set your sculpture to cure. The next week, return to unmold it and take a guided walk to see similar sculptures in place at Longwood. The bonus: you’ll have the recipe for success to create more sculptures at home.
Please bring well fitting heavy duty dishwashing gloves, safety or sun glasses, and wear old clothes.
Beginning Bonsai
SOLD OUT
DATE: Saturday, September 25, 9:00 am to 3:00 pm
FEE: $126 Garden pass member / $140 non-member
Lunch included
WHERE: Betula Room
This ever popular day-long course is designed for beginners interested in bonsai, the centuries old Asiatic art of dwarfing trees and shrubs grown in pots or small spaces. During the morning lecture, learn the care and culture of bonsai and techniques for designing and maintaining these sculptured treasures. A video presentation will be shown during the working lunch.
In the afternoon, students each receive a plant and work under the instructor’s guidance to design a bonsai to take home.
Limited enrollment.
Course fee includes plant, wire, and bonsai scissor.
Amazing Autumn Colors
DATE: Saturday, October 9, 9:00 am to 12:00 Noon
FEE: $63 Garden pass member / $70 non-member
WHERE: Betula Room & Soil Shed
Add color, texture, form, seasonal interest, and more to your outdoor living space. Get great tips on keeping those containers vibrant through the season with unusual plants and great combinations.
Karl will discuss container choices, potting media, watering, and fertilizing as well as help you choose the best plants for specific situations. Your container garden will be vibrant no matter the season!
Installing and Maintaining a Native Plant Meadow
SOLD OUT
DATE: Saturday, October 16, 10:00 am to 1:00 pm
FEE: $45 Garden pass member / $50 non-member
WHERE: Betula Room
Meets Horticultural Techniques class requirement
with Tom Brightman and Mark Gormel
Meadows are a diverse component of our natural landscape; but their planting and management require some basic knowledge, thought, and planning. Come to Longwood Gardens and look more closely at our managed meadow and learn the real diversity of the space. Through a step by step look at a specific project this slide lecture and walk covers the why, how, with what, when, and where of what it takes to turn an area of turf grass into an aesthetically rich, environmentally functional, thriving native plant community.
Dress for an indoor/ outdoor learning experience.
Inclement weather date: October 17
Continuing Education Opportunities
Longwood offers hundreds of lectures, courses and workshops each year that allow you to learn directly from our gardeners and horticulturists in our unique garden environment.
Find out more »
Professional Gardener Training Program
Longwood's immersive, tuition-free, two-year program combines a rigorous academic curriculum with hands-on learning.
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Internships
Students can gain practical experience, learn horticultural skills and study plants in one of the world’s finest gardens through our internship programs.
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