Each of our events aims to educate, inspire or merely delight. Whatever your age or interest, we hope you will find something for your enjoyment.
Further events and activities will be added to this programme during the course of the year. Full details will be posted on our website, and advertised at Visitor Reception. Gardening Courses and Watercolour Painting Class leaflets are available at visitor reception.
Children’s Events – Why not become Family
Members of Friends of The Garden House and
enjoy free admission throughout the season and to
children’s activities? Just £54.00 for 12 months
- two adults and all children under 18.
The staff and volunteers at The Garden House look forward to welcoming you.
How to book
Telephone office 01822 854769 to check availability.
Confirm booking by sending payment (cheques payable to ‘Fortescue Garden Trust’) to the address below.
The Garden House
Buckland Monachorum
Yelverton PL20 7LQ
Tel: 01822 854769
Email: office@thegardenhouse.org.uk
Web: www.thegardenhouse.org.uk
Guided Garden Tours Every Thursday afternoon at 2pm
Learn more about the plants that flourish at The Garden House. Just meet on the front lawn at 2pm (min of 6 attending). Tour time approx. 1 hour.
Normal admission, no additional tour charge
Half-Term: The Great Garden Bug Hunt and Pond Dipping
29 May 2.00 pm.
On land, water or in the air – who can we see? Meet on the lawn at 2.00 pm. Free admission for children this afternoon.
Watercolour Painting Class – Venice Tuesday 11th June 10.30 am – 4.00 pm
Views of Venice are exciting to paint in watercolour. The canals, bridges, gondolas and colourful buildings, combined with sunlight and shadow make wonderful compositions.
£30pp Booking essential
Children’s Garden Sculpture
17 – 24 June
Look out! There will be some ‘new additions’ to the Garden Team as children from St. Andrew’s CE Primary School display their sculptures in the garden! Normal admission.
A Summer Evening at The Garden House
Tuesday 25th June 6.00 pm – 9.00 pm
Nick Haworth, Head Gardener and his team will be your hosts this evening. There will be a garden tour with the focus on summer planting as well as another which lets you take a peek ‘behind the scenes’. A gardening advice clinic will also enable you to have your questions answered by a professional. Why not bring a picnic supper – and relax on a summer evening. Admission: £5.00. Friends of The Garden House £3.00.
No need to book. Just come along.
Watercolour Painting Class – Flowers Tuesday 2nd July 10.30 am – 4.00 pm
Big brush interpretations, fresh and freely painted flower subjects focusing on shapes and contrasts in tone and colour. This is not a botanical study day, but is always one our most popular workshops.
£30pp Booking essential
NEW – A Programme of Summer Holiday Activities for Children at The Garden House
If you are seeking ways to entertain your children or grandchildren during the summer holidays, the Garden House is planning a weekly programme of activities which we hope will stimulate children to develop an interest in gardening, horticulture and wildlife. On Wednesday afternoons, a team led by Becci Young, will organise activities for children aged 5 – 12 most of which will take place in the garden, with just a few in a classroom environment. Although the standard Child Admission will be waived on these afternoons, there will be a nominal £2 charge for each child taking part. The afternoons will be categorised as follows:
Garden Safari
Wednesdays 2.00 pm – 24 July and 14 August
Activities to include: Bug hunts, RSPB bird counts, pond dipping, making an earwig trap, making a mini wormery.
Take a Closer Look
Wednesdays 2.00 pm – 31 July and 4th September
Activities to include: Bark rubbing, garden scavenger hunts, texture trails, making a leaf and nature mobile, ‘listen to the world’.
Junior Garden Artist
Wednesdays 2.00 pm – 7 August and 21 August
Bring your own materials/stool – paint and draw garden scenes, and the trees and flowers that grow there. (Local artists will be in the garden to help the children with their compositions). Create a garden collage.
The Garden House Junior Flower Show
Bank Holiday Weekend: Sat 24 – Mon 26 August
Bring exhibits to The Garden House on Friday 23 August and they will be judged by the Head Gardener (prizes!). Everyone’s work will be exhibited in the Conference Room over the Bank Holiday weekend. Classes by age group to include: Miniature garden using a seed-tray or kitchen tray, posy of flowers, vegetable sculpture – and more. Full details will be released in June (leaflet and website).
Watercolour Painting Class – Dartmoor Tuesday 6th August 10.30 am – 4.00 pm
Creating dramatic moods, using loose washes for big skies, rocky tors, moors and streams. This class will also include a pen a wash subject of industrial Dartmoor
£30pp Booking essential
The Trees of Plymouth
Wednesday 14 August 8.00 pm
Andrew Young, Chairman of the Plymouth Tree Partnership, will talk about the many different species of trees and how they came to Plymouth. The Garden will open at 6.30 pm if you would like a stroll around the Garden – perhaps with a glass of wine. Talk starts at 8.00 pm. £6.00 pp. To book: tel. 01822 854769.
‘The Garden House Story’ – An Exhibition by ‘Drawn to the Valley’ artists
19 August – 22 September
Talented artists belonging to ‘Drawn to the Valley’ have been painting in the garden throughout June and July, and this exhibition of carefully selected work reflects the story of The Garden House through their eyes – the garden, its landscape, its plants and the people who nurture them.
Watercolour Painting Class – Sea & Coastal Views Tuesday 3rd September 10.30 am – 4.00 pm
Loose interpretations of light and reflections on sandy shores, distant headlands, sparkling seas and boats.
£30pp Booking essential
Watercolour Painting Class – Woods & Trees Tuesday 8th October 10.30 am – 4.00 pm
This class will focus on simplifying complex subjects into shapes and patterns.
£30pp Booking essential
Watercolour Painting Class – Snowy Scenes for Christmas Tuesday 29th October 10.30am – 4.00 pm
Watercolour combined with pen and ink for Christmas card production.
£30pp Booking essential
