Design & Plan your own Garden - 2 days with Shelagh Todd - lecturer, garden designer & plantswoman

10.00am to 4.30pm each day

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.

Day 1 will cover the design process, including surveying, analysing & soil testing your site. Using your own design brief, you will learn to create a functional layout plan that you can apply to your garden, including consideration for hard landscaping materials as required. We can explore both the established and newer areas of the garden at Quirky Workshops which is maintained on a largely organic basis with wildlife at its heart.

Day 2 Shelagh will show you how to design the planting for your garden to achieve colour, interest and atmosphere; how to choose and combine the right plants for your soil conditions, and for best effect. You can decide on the style of planting and the types of plants you wish to grow, and we’ll discuss the pros and cons of different plants, what to look for when you are buying plants and how to source good plants locally.

*In advance of the workshop we'll send you an 'easy to follow' guide on how to measure up your garden. This means you can arrive on the first day of the course with a plan of your plot ready to begin the design process. With illustrated talks & drawing exercises, by the end of the 2 days you will have completed some planting schemes and have the skills to continue designing at home.

Thurs & Fri 22-23 April '27 ~ Sat & Sun 14-15 August '27

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.

Some informal 'post -it' notes feedback from one of Shelagh's previous courses

What did you enjoy most?

• Everything was wonderful !
• Fantastic!
• Inspirational!
• Passionately taught by Shelagh
• Excellent, Inspirational & Therapeutic
• Built my confidence to design my own garden borders
• The structure of the 2 day course, the location & of course Shelagh!
• Engaging with the gardens around the Quirky Workshop Barn especially the wildlife pond & wildflower meadow
• A wonderful, in depth, thought provoking course and perfectly delivered by Shelagh
• Guided walks around Annies Garden
• Learning about my soil & how to improve it
• Building my confidence on how to select & use plants in my own Cumbrian garden
• Shelagh’s vast wealth of knowledge & experience
• Meeting like-minded people who enjoy talking about gardens & plants & sharing their own experiences
• Annies quirky & creative garden
• Gathering inspirational ideas & now having the confidence to implement the ideas in my own garden