2024

• FREE volunteer planting days, early January 2025 (dates tbc)
• October 9th, 12th & 16th ON-LINE Foliage growing COURSES.
• December 7th. Christmas wreath & garland making in North Wales
• December 14th . Christmas wreath & garland making in the New Forest
• Zoom 1:1 sessions on foliage growing

Course costs:

• On-line foliage-growing course – £120
• Wreath/garlands course – £80 / £140
• 90 minute Zoom session – £110
• FREE volunteer planting days, early January 2025 (dates tbc)

Click here to book

Growing foliage for floristry courses 2024:

Excitingly, we have been awarded a grant from Farming in Protected Landscapes (FiPL) to plant 1000 native trees & shrubs as a foliage growing trial. This means that the usual foliage growing courses will happen on-line on October 9th, 12th & 16th, with an additional option of two voluntary, hands-on tree planting days in early to mid January 2025 (dates tbc), including a visit to see the established plantings at Spindle.

Following a fascinating seminar at Spindle last November, I’m delighted to share this aerial photo of ‘milk stand’ at Wyld Meadow Farm owned by farming friends of ours just down the road, where we’ll be planting. It’s a long term project – it’ll be 5 yrs before they’re ready to harvest!

Last November’s seminar was in collaboration with the Soil Association and funded by FiPL / Dorset National Landscapes / AONB. We looked at how agroforestry works in practise on a farm scale and why foliage growing might be a good idea from an agroforestry perspective. Our focus was on questions of design, stakeholders, business models and partnerships, funding and constraints.

If you would like to join in on the voluntary foliage planting days, there will also be an optional visit down to Spindle to look at the plantings there. We will look at some special, unusual favourites & how long you can expect to wait before they are ready to harvest. We will spend time walking around the site looking at the many different varieties of foliage being trialled, and discuss the details of when to cut what, whilst keeping an eye on how to also have good stems for future years. 

With all this info – including a delicious lunch in return for the sweat of your brow – the voluntary planting days should be a rich source of information for anyone wishing to learn more about planting foliage. If you’re interested in learning more about establishing a foliage plantation, we are welcoming applications to join in with our volunteer planting days in early 2025. Please dm me for details.

THE ON-LINE COURSE

Costing £120 – this is great value for money. Over 2 hours, we will cover the kinds of foliage florists want, what plants to grow & how to grow them, maintenance and pruning, some propagating techniques, conditioning, pricing, presenting foliage for sale, weed control and ground cover planting as well as optimum spacing for harvesting. 

I will be providing access to detailed pdfs of recommended plants and varieties, local s.w. plant suppliers, and optimum times for taking cuttings.

This course is aimed at people with a few years’ experience of gardening and some knowledge of flower / foliage growing. Floristry knowledge / experience is also definitely a plus. We would strongly recommend getting some work experience in a florists’ shop for anyone who is wanting to grow flowers or foliage for floristry. 

Zanna is an experienced gardener, having learnt under a professional, and she has many years under her belt of learning on the job. She has also worked for ten years as an event and shop florist. She has a passion for working with interesting and unusual foliage grown in the UK, and in sharing the knowledge she has learnt along the way.

The on-line foliage growing course will cover the following topics:

• The kinds of foliage florists want
• What foliage is most versatile
• What plants to grow & how to grow them
• Optimum spacing for ease of harvesting
• When to harvest
• Pruning tips
• Coppicing & pollarding
• Weed control
• Ground cover planting
• Propagating
• Pricing
• Presenting foliage for sale
• Turnover, production costs and markets for foliage

‘I did this workshop last year and learnt so much. Loved the tour of all the plants and the pros and cons and methods of growing each. And the take home sheets so you don’t have to remember it all at once! Thank you.’ Penny, ForagingPhloem 2023

‘I just wanted to say thank you so much for Saturday’s foliage course. I had such a lovely morning and have learnt so much from you. It was great to meet you and see your amazing field… it was so helpful to see what you have done and how you’ve planted out your space. You were so generous with your knowledge and i’m very grateful for all the advice you gave and also for the plant lists, which add to my never ending shopping list!’ Helen, Home Hill Flowers 2021

‘I thoroughly enjoyed meeting you and learning more about the foliage aspect of farming. Such an amazing location and beautiful barn. I came away really excited about the future of growing more foliage and feel your course covered many of the questions that I had. The handouts are proving most useful albeit my shopping list is getting longer!’ Marney, Chetterwood Flowers 2021

Foliage growing consultations:

For a while now Zanna has been offering 90 minute Zoom consultations. These sessions are based on a questionnaire sent out prior to the session, and we will cover much of the information given in the course (see below). It often helps to send a video tour of the growing space in question. From this information specific foliage recommendations can be prepared based on site and needs. Please contact Zanna to find out more.

Here is a recent consultation testimonial:

‘What Zanna doesn’t know about foliage is probably not worth knowing. I was fortunate to have a one-to-one foliage consultation with Zanna, and in 90 minutes learnt more than i could imagine. Her years of experience and dedication to growing British foliage means she is a wealth of knowledge, a walking encyclopaedia of how to best cut, condition, prune and care for foliage plants. Zanna is a natural teacher and leaves you not only with a notebook of helpful information, but an inspired confidence to grow the best foliage possible.” James Greig, Stem & Green

Please contact Zanna to find out more.

I am also now taking bookings for floristry & wreath-making courses.

Wernog Wood wreath-making & garland-making workshop.

December 7th

Following the success of last year’s Christmas workshops at Wernog Wood, we’ll be doing wreath-making in the morning (£70), garland-making in the afternoon (£80). Stay for either or both! (£140 and a delicious lunch included).

On this course you’ll work with completely natural, locally sourced materials to create gorgeous, scented, luscious foliage-based decorations for your home over the festive season. You’ll pick up tips on how to create low-cost, eco-friendly floral designs for the table, over the fireplace, on the front door, as well as hanging above it all! Dried material, rose hips, feathers, conifer, all the tricks of the trade for making decorations that will last ages and look amazing. It’s a wonderful way to prepare for Christmas.

Wernog Wood is a craft centre which also offers accommodation (their gorgeous Red Shed was recently featured in the Times), in the heart of the Clwydian Range in North East Wales.

Wreath-making workshop Tiptoe Yoga in the New Forest (more info coming soon)

December 14th

Tiptoe Yoga is a yoga retreat centre with a beautiful studio and accommodation near New Milton, in the middle of the New Forest. We’ll be offering wreath making in the morning, with another wreath making in the afternoon. There is an option for a delicious vegetarian lunch too. Go to their website (link above) to book.

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