Key Facts
- Starting
6 Mar 2025- Location
- Merton
- Start Time
- 10:00
- End Time
- 13:00
- Duration
- 5 Weeks
- Study Mode
- Part Time Day
- Days
- Thursday
- Start Date
- 6 Mar 2025
- Level
- Short Course
- Code
- MHRX170ML
Fees
- 19+ Fee
- Free
Introduction to Sustainable Gardening
Whether you have a garden, an allotment or grow food in a community setting, this short course will take you through the basics of how to grow healthy, organic fruit, vegetables, herbs and edible flowers. Suitable for beginners or those who have been growing for a while but want to improve their understanding and success rate.
The course is classroom based and designed to give you the knowledge and confidence to grow your own in 2025 and beyond.
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Course Content
Each session lasts 3 hours and the topics covered are:- Organic soil management
- Productive garden design
- Cultivating Vegetable crops
- Managing fruit trees and bushes
- Growing herbs and edible flowers
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Additional Information
About the tutor:Sarah Foss MHort (RHS)
Sarah began studying horticulture in 2005, working with disabled people to help them to overcome mental ill-health through gardening. She went on to run gardening projects for Age UK Merton and for EcoLocal, an environmental charity in south London, delivering practical courses on food production, fruit growing and pruning, fruit grafting, and organic gardening.
Sarah holds a RHS Master of Horticulture degree, passing with Distinction and winning the prestigious Chittenden Award for gaining the highest grades in the year 2022. Alongside her work for Merton College, she teaches gardening for EcoLocal, Sutton Parks Department, Imperial College London and others, and has recently been promoted to Senior Examiner with Royal Horticultural Society Qualifications department.
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Course Structure
Session1: Organic soil management- Let's get to know our soil
- Organic soil improvement and management
- Composting and wormeries
- Watering wisely
Session 2: Productive garden design
- Designing your kitchen garden
- What grows where
- Keeping it growing
Session 3: Cultivating vegetable crops
- Root vegetables propagation and care
- Leafy vegetables propagation and care
- Fruiting vegetables propagation and care
- Veg pests and diseases
Session 4: Managing fruit trees and bushes
- Selection and maintenance of tree fruit
- Selection and maintenance of soft fruit
- Fruit pests and diseases
Session 5: Growing herbs and edible flowers
- Common herbs for culinary use
- Selection and growing edible flowers
- End of course quiz