A Year In The Garden .... with Shelagh Todd, - lecturer, garden designer & plantswoman.

 

A new collaborative, 11 month course between Quirky Workshops and Shelagh Todd.  

10am - 3.30pm, on the last Thursday of each month (with 2 exceptions), Please BYO packed lunch. Tea/coffee available from 9.50am Squirrel Barn before heading out into the Gardens

£605 total cost.

£55 non refundable deposit payable to Quirky Workshops, who will forward your details to Shelagh, to take the remaining £550 balance within 5 days to secure your booking.           NB Our usual T&C's are different for this 11 month course - PLEASE READ BELOW **

 

25 Feb 2027    25 March       29 April     27 May            24 June         15 July  (before school hols)

26 August       30 Sept          21 Oct  (missing half term)     25 Nov      16 Dec 2027

 

A Year In The Garden    ..  with leading Cumbrian Garden Designer, Lecturer and Plantswoman, Shelagh Todd. 

On this monthly Thursday course running from February to December,  based at The Quirky Workshops and close-by Stafford House in Greystoke,  you will be joined by tutor Shelagh Todd.  Attending one of Shelagh’s courses is more than a learning experience, it’s an inspirational journey. Shelagh will bring her vast knowledge to life with down to earth  explanations, practical demonstrations, practical hands-on tips and tricks ensuring you walk away with actionable ideas to implement in your own garden.

She will create a relaxed learning space where beginners, seasoned gardeners and career changers can all work together and grow their individual skills , knowledge and confidence. You can expect plenty of practical tips, friendly advice and the opportunity for you to ask all your gardening questions. Come ready to get your hands dirty and leave inspired to grow your own garden haven!

The course covers everything from

Plant Knowledge & Identification

Weeds , Pest & Diseases

Plant Propagation by seed, cuttings & division

Plant Maintenance including seasonal pruning

Gardening for Wildlife

Sustainable Gardening

Planning your garden for all year round displays

Plus numerous other topics!

How lucky we will be to spend indoor teaching time in The Squirrel Barn and the outdoors teaching & practical sessions in two beautiful Cumbrian gardens.

You step directly out of the Squirrel Barn into the mature ( yet ever evolving) gardens that surround Annie’s house & workshops at The Quirky Workshop venue.  Annie's garden is informal & full of inspiration. The garden offers quirky beds and borders full of an eclectic mix of plants, a small wildlife pond, wildflower meadows, composting area, ornamental potager, vegetable growing area, spectacular borrowed landscapes, the home to a quirky family of free range Polish Bantams & Kofi the cat, amongst a range of creatively planted recycled containers and the garden is dotted with quirky sculptures.

We will also make a short walk to Hazel’s garden at Stafford House. Her country garden wraps around her unique C18th Grade 2 ‘folly’ house,  originally built as part of the Greystoke Castle estate.  Here, we will find a mature garden with a good range of ornamental trees, conifers & shrubs, roses, climbers & wall shrubs, an ornamental pond, billowing herbaceous borders, a couple of small growing greenhouses, informal patches of vegetables & cut flowers and a wildflower meadow that buzzes  with wildlife. 

Shelagh is widely known and highly respected throughout Cumbria's gardening fraternity. She has been both the familiar face - and  'lead' - of Horticulture at Newton Rigg College for well over 30 years, and we are thrilled to welcome her to our 2025 Quirky programme. She brings a wealth of gardening expertise and teaching experience, which over the years will have gently inspired literally thousands of 'would-be gardeners’ to create and nurture their own individual outdoor spaces. This two-day course is an ideal starting point for beginners, garden enthusiasts and anyone who wants to re-design their garden space.

 

 WHAT TO BRING :  Shelagh and the two venues will supply larger garden tools / wheelbarrows etc where appropriate. During the propagation element of the course students will be invited to supply their own mini propagation unit and take cuttings home to nurture .. along with their own choices of seeds/ tubers/ bulbs etc .  Student are required to provide their own suitable footwear, gardening gloves, secateurs/ gardening scissors, garden bucket etc and suitable clothing in the event of inclement weather.  Over the year, small optional additional charges may arise, such as £5 to Shelagh to cover any soil testing kits for your own garden soil etc. 

About the Tutor Shelagh has over 40 years experience in the horticultural industry. Her most recent role was as Head of Horticulture and Garden Design at the School of Horticulture based at Lowther Castle and Gardens (established July 2021). Prior to this she was Head of Horticulture, Forestry & Floristry and a horticultural & garden design lecturer at Newton Rigg College, Penrith, Cumbria. Her career has seen her working in gardens all over the UK from Achamore Gardens on the Isle of Gigha in Argyllshire, Scotland to Merrist Wood College in Surrey. A highlight in her career was being a member of the teams that won gold and silver medals at the Chelsea Flower Show. She also won the ‘Cumbrian Lecturer of the Year’ in the Golden Apple Awards in 2010. Shelagh had the great honour of being The President of the Lakeland Horticultural Society based at Holehird Gardens near Windermere.

Shelagh feels her greatest achievement and inspiration has always been to teach people of all ages and abilities to learn practical skills and grow a knowledge and love of plants.

 

** Variation to Our Standard Terms and Conditions – Year in the Garden Course (11 Months)

Please note that the following cancellation policy applies specifically to the 11-month 'Year in the Garden' course and varies from our usual Terms and Conditions. Due to the nature of this course, changes to bookings and transfers are not permitted within EIGHT weeks of the course start date.

1. Cancellations Requested Before 30 December 2026

If you wish to cancel your booking, you must submit your request by email before Wednesday 30 December 2026.

In this instance, an 80% refund of your balance paid will be available, provided you supply your bank details to facilitate the refund.

2. Cancellations Requested After 30 December 2026

For cancellations requested after Wednesday 30 December 2026, no refund will ordinarily be available, as the booking will fall within the eight-week period preceding the course start date.

However, if we are able to resell your place to another participant before the first day of the course, Thursday 25 February 2027, an 80% refund of your balance paid will be offered.

3. No Transfers to Other Workshops

Due to the collaborative nature of this course, refunds cannot be transferred or credited towards any other Quirky Workshops course.

Should you wish to use any refunded amount towards another course, you must make a separate booking independently.

Please note - to clarify  - as this 11 month course is subject to its own eight-week cancellation policy,  IT IS NOT covered by our usual flexibility of free transfers to another selected course when requested before Monday 11 January 2027.

4. Withdrawal After the Course Has Commenced

In the unfortunate event that a participant is unable to continue attending the course for any reason, no refunds will be available.

Participants may arrange a substitute attendee only with Shelagh’s prior approval. Any such substitution must be agreed in advance and completed before the end of Session 2, scheduled for 27 March 2027.

Thank you for your understanding and cooperation. We appreciate your commitment to the Year in the Garden course and look forward to sharing this gardening journey with you.