Back after a hiatus, the popular Get Growing! series that I teach in collaboration with the Hardy Plant Society of Oregon (HPSO) is back in a fresh new format: a three-day intensive workshop spanning Friday evening, September 30th through the afternoon of Sunday, October 2nd. The series includes a combination of lectures, slide shows, exercises and field trips designed to energize your garden planning and plant selection process. The program is geared for the beginner, but is suitable for gardeners of all experience levels. Regardless of your current experience, my goal will be to challenge you to think in new ways about your garden and how you select the plants for it.
The weekend will begin with an evening gathering in my garden in NE Portland with light refreshments, followed by slides and an informal lecture. The Saturday and Sunday sessions, also based out of my garden studio, will be a combination of lectures, exercises and field trips designed to inspire and inform, helping you be more successful in your garden-making. This multi-day approach allows for a broader range and more in-depth exploration of the topics.
We’ll cover basic garden design principles -- providing an introduction to the garden planning process, as well as lots of food for thought and some great tools for helping you to create plant combinations with strong visual interest and seasonal flow in your garden.
Classes are held at my home garden & studio in NE Portland. There will be field trip(s) on Sunday, and possibly Saturday. Carpools for the field trips will be arranged Friday night.
Topics include:
- An introduction to the garden planning process - we'll get you thinking about your garden in new ways!
- Successful plant selection - right plant, right place. Selecting plants that are well-adapted to your site is a key element of successful gardening. We'll talk about specific plants for specific settings and situations; shady sites, sunny, dry gardens, screening, hedging, maintenance considerations ... there are plants for just about every situation, and solutions for every space.
- Tips for creating visually engaging planting combinations that deliver the ever-elusive all-season-appeal we often strive for when creating our gardens.
- Ideas for incorporating edibles into your garden in an ornamental and productive way. You'll come away with ideas for growing beautiful food, beautifully.
- We’ll visit gardens that illustrate the design principles covered in the exercises and lectures -- discussing them on-site and in-person to further enhance our classroom activities.
- I garden organically and naturally and will emphasize these methods in my teaching.
Here's what students from previous classes are saying about the series:
"I'm a fan! Darcy's great, very knowledgeable and can communicate effectively, very organized"
"...[H]elped some things 'gel' for me in a way they hadn't before ... have a firmer grip on design principles and starting points for thinking about the garden ..."
"I would have expected it to cost more"
"Idyllic location"
"Great for home gardeners, not overwhelming"
"Thoughtful, well organized"
" Darcy is great; able to teach beginners and more experienced folks at once. Practical but very creative, approachable"
The Fall 2011 Get Growing! series is scheduled for Friday September 30th, 5 pm to 8 pm and Saturday and Sunday, October 1st and 2nd, from 10 am to 4 pm. Get Growing! costs $150 for HPSO members for the series ($165 for non-HPSO members), payable in full prior to the class. Act quickly, as class size is limited to 13.
TO REGISTER: go to the Hardy Plant Society of Oregon (HPSO) calendar page and follow the link to register or phone the Hardy Plant Society at 503-224-5718.
