Photography Morning for Beginners with Ryedale Garden Photography

Ideal for beginners or those new to digital photography, this half-day photography workshop with Ryedale Garden Photography is an opportunity to take photographs in the beautiful surroundings of the Yorkshire Arboretum.

The course covers how to use different camera settings and compositions to help you get the most out of your images. Working in a small group, you will be guided to key areas of the garden of trees to make the most of your time there. You will receive advice and support from Dave Bake, an experienced photography teacher.

Booking Information

Please book directly with Dave Bakes’ Ryedale Garden Photography here. The course costs £60 plus a booking fee.

View some of Dave’s work from the arboretum below:

It is useful to be able to identify grasses - for botanical surveys, for monitoring grassland, for understanding agriculture and ecosystems, and for enjoying their beauty. Grass identification can be challenging: coming on a beginners day course is an excellent way to start.

This lively, one day course with Dr Judith Allinson is suitable for anyone who would like to start learning how to identify grasses, whether a student, an amateur naturalist, a farmer, a scientist, a botanical or agricultural surveyor, a gardener. Participants will see lots of examples of the grasses growing in slightly different habitats.

Location: Yorkshire Arboretum Tree Health Centre
Tutors: Dr Judith Allinson     Fee: £130
Level: No prior knowledge required
Includes buffet lunch

Please book your place below:

About the Course

Aim

For participants to recognise common species of neutral grassland and a few in woodland, concentrating on those that come into flower early. Participants will learn the vocabulary to describe both vegetative and flowering features of grasses, and thus be able to start using grass keys.

Objectives

• To learn to recognise c. 10 common species of grasses that you can probably find at home too.

• To see a variety of other grasses and have distinctive features pointed out.

• To be introduced to and learn and use the vocabulary needed to describe vegetative features, and grass flowers.

• To be introduced to some of the books helpful for identifying grasses.

The above will be achieved by means of teaching in the classroom, followed by a walk to look for grasses in the grounds of the Yorkshire Arboretum. If there is time we will use a grass key. We will concentrate on grasses in neutral grassland.

Outcomes

By the end of the course, participants will:

• Have a small collection of grasses to take home, including vegetative and flowering specimens. These can be in the form of pressed plants, or grasses stuck onto a sheet with sticky back plastic (or both).

• Have gained confidence in recognising these plants.

• Have been introduced to and learnt the vocabulary needed to describe special features of grasses.

• Have been introduced to some of the books  helpful for identifying grasses.

 Useful Accessories / Notes

• Hand lenses will be available for participants to borrow who do not have a hand lens of their own. If they have them, participants are invited to bring hand lenses and fine tweezers.

• Waterproof clothing and strong footwear are recommended. It is not anticipated that we will be walking very far.

• Notebook, pen, plastic bags can be useful.

Note this is an introductory course. It is hoped to run further courses involving more practice in use of keys, finding more species, and looking at vegetative features.

About the Tutor

Judith (or Dr Judith Allinson) started work as a field biology/botany tutor at Malham Tarn Field Centre. Since then she has worked carrying out botanical surveys for Natural England (and its predecessors) and other organisations, and spent some time school teaching. She has run “Grasses” and “Grasses and Sedges” courses at many Field Studies Council Centres and elsewhere, specialising in identifying grasses using vegetative features.  She co-authored the AIDGAP guide: “British grasses: a punched card key to grasses in the vegetative state.” by Pankhurst and Allinson. She is a past president of the Yorkshire Naturalists’ Union.

Contact

For further information about the course please contact the team by email administration@treehealthcentre.org or phone 01653 648598

Lichens are a much unrecorded section of our wildlife. Yet they cover 6-8 percent of the world’s land surface. Recently more people have become aware of the symbiotic relationship of the fungus and alga (or blue-green bacterium) which make up the lichen. 

This one day course with Dr Judith Allinson will take you on a journey of discovery into the world of lichen identification. You will learn how to recognise several common species and gain the vocabulary to describe a new lichen you find to a lichenologist. Suitable for beginners, students, amateur naturalists, and botanical surveyors.

Location: Yorkshire Arboretum Tree Health Centre
Tutors: Dr Judith Allinson     Fee: £130
Level: No prior knowledge required
Includes buffet lunch

Please book your place below:

About the Course

Why

Lichens are a much unrecorded section of our wildlife. Yet they cover 6-8 percent of the world’s land surface. Recently more people have become aware of the symbiotic relationship of the fungus and alga (or blue-green bacterium) which make up the lichen. Look at a lichen under a hand lens and see the rich variety of colours and textures and you will soon become hooked! It is easier to come on a course with a tutor and have the species on a branch pointed out to you than to learn them from a book.

Aim

Participants will learn how to recognise several common species of lichen, gain the vocabulary to describe a new lichen you find to a lichenologist, or read about a lichen in a book. And, to learn how some species of lichen can tell us about pollution levels.

Objectives

• To learn about common species of lichens growing on trees in the Yorkshire Arboretum, that you can probably find at home too. 

• To see a variety of other lichens.

• To be introduced to and learn and use the vocabulary needed to describe lichens.

• To be introduced to some of the books and website pages helpful for identifying lichens.

The above will be achieved by means of teaching in the classroom, followed by a walk to look for lichens on trees in the Yorkshire Arboretum.

Outcomes

By the end of the course, participants will:

• Have a small collection of lichens to take home, many of these are likely to be growing on trees near them in other parts of Yorkshire.

• Seen a variety of other lichens and will have been introduced to and learnt some of the vocabulary needed to describe lichens.

• Be able to say whether a lichen is a crustose, fruticose, or foliose lichen.

• Have seen two simple chemical tests often used to distinguish lichens.

• Have been introduced to some of the books and website pages helpful for identifying lichens.

Useful Accessories

• Hand lenses will be available for participants to borrow who do not have a hand lens of their own.

• If they have them, participants are invited to bring hand lenses, fine tweezers, a mobile phone, or camera with close up facilities. But do not buy one specially for the course!

• The most useful book is Frank Dobson’s “Lichens - An Illustrated Guide to the British and Irish Species” (£35 from the British Lichen society - £5 reduction if you are a member) but as participants are beginners it is not expected that many people will have one.

• Waterproof clothing and strong footwear are recommended. It is not anticipated that we will be walking very far.

• Notebook, pen, plastic bags, sheets of A4 paper or envelopes, and a penknife can also be useful.

About the Tutor

Judith (or Dr Judith Allinson) started work as a botany tutor at Malham Tarn Field Centre. Since then she has worked carrying out botanical surveys for Natural England (and its predecessors) and other organisations, school teaching and teaching Grasses and Sedges courses at Field Studies Council Centres. Over the last ten years her interest in lichens has increased. She currently hosts the Zoom Lichen Chat and Improvement Group for the British Lichen Society, and has served on Council of the British Lichens Society. She is a past president of the Yorkshire Naturalists’ Union and is keen to encourage young people to find out about lichens.

Contact

For further information about the course please contact the team by email administration@treehealthcentre.org or phone 01653 648598

Are you interested in our native trees but feel you don’t know much about them, or how to tell them apart? In this day course John Grimshaw will introduce you to them using the collection at the Yorkshire Arboretum, teaching you about the various features to look for and some simple ways to remember them. The focus will be on species most often seen in northern England, using summer foliage characters to tell them apart.

Location: Yorkshire Arboretum Tree Health Centre
Tutors: Dr John Grimshaw     Fee: £110
Level: No prior knowledge required
Includes buffet lunch

Please book your place below:

Why

Tree identification often seems difficult and challenging, and can be an obstacle to fully appreciating these wonderful plants that are so important to our lives. Being able to identify them opens many doors to understanding the natural world and the wealth of cultural and biological stories each species can tell. Advocacy for trees begins with naming!

Content

• Discuss the principles of identification, and the need for names

• Learn about the diversity of British native and frequently planted or naturalised broad-leaved trees

• Learn some simple characters to look for, and examine a range of specimens in the classroom to become familiar with important features

• Observe growing trees in the arboretum to see how details relate to the whole individual

• Undertake an identification challenge in a patch of native trees

Outcomes

By the end of the workshop, you will be able to:

• Confidently recognise a range of our common native trees

• Find your way around a guidebook to trees

• Understand and apply principles of identification to woodland trees

• Share why it’s useful to be able to distinguish between trees

• Interpret your local treescape and connect to individual trees

 Useful accessories: Collins Tree Guide (Owen Johnson, 2006), 10× hand lens

Contact

For further information about the course please contact the team by email administration@treehealthcentre.org or phone 01653 648598

Photography Morning for Beginners with Ryedale Garden Photography

Ideal for beginners or those new to digital photography, this half-day photography workshop with Ryedale Garden Photography is an opportunity to take photographs in the beautiful surroundings of the Yorkshire Arboretum.

The course covers how to use different camera settings and compositions to help you get the most out of your images. Working in a small group, you will be guided to key areas of the garden of trees to make the most of your time there. You will receive advice and support from Dave Bake, an experienced photography teacher.

Booking Information

Please book directly with Dave Bakes’ Ryedale Garden Photography here. The course costs £60 plus a booking fee.

View some of Dave’s work from the arboretum below:

There’s a lot of interest in planting trees at present, for carbon capture and other ecosystem benefits, as well as their own beauty. Planting a tree in your garden or neighbourhood can help a lot, but choosing the right tree, planting and looking after it can be a daunting prospect. This investment can be costly both in time, money, and enthusiasm when it goes wrong.

Location: Yorkshire Arboretum Tree Health Centre
Tutors: Dr John Grimshaw Fee: £60
Level: No prior knowledge required

Please reserve your place here:

About the Course

Aim

To ensure that trees thrive, this half day course ‘Trees for Your Garden: Planting for the Best Start’ led by our Director, John Grimshaw, guides learners through choosing and planting a healthy tree and its important early maintenance. Learners will leave confident in the knowledge of how to establish a tree for future generations and know about pitfalls that should be avoided.

Objectives

• Talk through the importance of sourcing healthy plants.

• Share a succinct list of important criteria to choose a high quality retailer.

• Use live examples and images to highlight what to look for when purchasing healthy trees.

• Explain the best time to plant and show how to handle and care for trees until that time comes.

• Demonstrate preparation and planting whilst discussing different situations and supplements.

• Use a short tour to show different methods of planting support and protection.

• Prioritise the aftercare and maintenance that learners should invest their time in.

Outcomes

By the end of the workshop, you will be able to:

• Confidently select good quality healthy trees in a garden centre.

• Understand the need for plant passporting and traceability that this provides.

• Consider and minimise the factors that might limit your tree’s establishment.

• Maximise the likelihood of your tree thriving through appropriate and effective preparation, planting, support and maintenance.

Contact

For further information about the course please contact the Tree Health Centre team by email administration@treehealthcentre.org or phone 01653 648598

Trees are often just a beautiful in winter as in summer, as their structure and shape are revealed. It adds a great deal to your appreciation of the winter landscape to know what trees you’re looking at, and there are practical advantages too – but it can be difficult without the leaves. Luckily there are plenty of clues, you just need to know what to look for.

This day course is led by Arboretum Director John Grimshaw. It will introduce you to tree identification in winter, using on a combination of tree form, bark, and twig and bud characters, focusing on common and native deciduous trees growing in the Yorkshire Arboretum. Following a short introduction in the classroom, we will go outside to study them as growing trees before concluding with a comparative exercise inside.

Course Content

• Discuss the difficulties and opportunities for identifying trees in winter

• Learn some obvious characters to look for, using all parts of the tree

• Examine a range of specimens in the classroom to become familiar with details to look for

• Study trees in the arboretum to see how characters work together to enable identification

• Make a key to separate a selection of twigs on their buds and other features

Outcomes

By the end of the workshop, you will be able to:

• Recognise a selection of native trees from their winter characteristics, enabling you to appreciate the landscape more

• Understand what you should look for in an unknown tree to make a winter identification

• Prepare a key to plant features

• Know about useful resources to learn more

Useful accessories: Collins Tree Guide (Owen Johnson, 2006),  The Field Key to Winter Twigs (John Poland, 2020), Identification of Trees and Shrubs in Winter using Buds and Twigs (Bernd Schulz, 2018), 10× hand lens

Booking Information

Location: Yorkshire Arboretum Tree Health Centre
Tutors: Dr John Grimshaw     Fee: £90
Level: No prior knowledge required
Includes buffet lunch

This half-day workshop is perfect for beginners or those new to digital photography. Take photographs in the Yorkshire Arboretum’s stunning landscape and receive advice and support from a qualified, enthusiastic teacher.

Book directly with Dave Bakes’ Ryedale Garden Photography website here.

The course costs £65.27 including the booking fee.

View some of Dave’s work from the arboretum below:

Join Jonathan Pomroy for a day of sketching in the arboretum. The workshop will focus on how to enjoy using a sketchbook. The aim will be to have several pages of sketches in pencil or watercolour or both. Jonathan will demonstrate his sketching techniques at several locations. 

We will use the beautiful grounds of Yorkshire Arboretum, especially the lake area, to wander and sketch landscapes, birds, flowers or trees. The day will be very flexible allowing students to draw subjects which inspire them within an area Jonathan can be accessible to all.

He will guide students through the sketching process rather than concentrate on studio painting. He believes sketching can create a special record of time and place and that the process involves really immersing yourself in the natural world. There will be plans for really wet weather alternatives.

A light lunch will be provided.

This event is also taking place on Wednesday 17 August - for details please click here.

Equipment

• Watercolour paints and brushes of choice

• Good quality cartridge paper or watercolour paper sketchbook- A5 or bigger, landscape or portrait format depending on choice

• Range of pencils between HB-6B

• Water carrier

• Folding stool if desired

• Waterproofs

• Stout footwear

• Binoculars/ telescope if you want to sketch birds- optional

• Flask of tea or coffee if desired

• Shoulder bag or rucksack to carry equipment round

Join Jonathan Pomroy for a day of sketching in the arboretum. The workshop will focus on how to enjoy using a sketchbook. The aim will be to have several pages of sketches in pencil or watercolour or both. Jonathan will demonstrate his sketching techniques at several locations. 

We will use the beautiful grounds of Yorkshire Arboretum, especially the lake area, to wander and sketch landscapes, birds, flowers or trees. The day will be very flexible allowing students to draw subjects which inspire them within an area Jonathan can be accessible to all.

He will guide students through the sketching process rather than concentrate on studio painting. He believes sketching can create a special record of time and place and that the process involves really immersing yourself in the natural world. There will be plans for really wet weather alternatives.

A light lunch will be provided.

This event is also taking place on Wednesday 24 August - for details please click here.

Equipment

• Watercolour paints and brushes of choice

• Good quality cartridge paper or watercolour paper sketchbook- A5 or bigger, landscape or portrait format depending on choice

• Range of pencils between HB-6B

• Water carrier

• Folding stool if desired

• Waterproofs

• Stout footwear

• Binoculars/ telescope if you want to sketch birds- optional

• Flask of tea or coffee if desired

• Shoulder bag or rucksack to carry equipment round

Why

Tree identification often seems difficult and challenging, and can be an obstacle to fully appreciating these wonderful plants that are so important to our lives. Being able to identify them opens many doors to understanding the natural world and the wealth of cultural and biological stories each species can tell. Advocacy for trees begins with naming!

Aim

Are you interested in our native trees but feel you don’t know much about them, or how to tell them apart? In this day course John Grimshaw will introduce you to them using the collection at the Yorkshire Arboretum, teaching you about the various features to look for and some simple ways to remember them. The focus will be on species most often seen in northern England, using summer foliage characters to tell them apart.

Content

Discuss the principles of identification, and the need for names

Learn about the diversity of British native and frequently planted or naturalised broad-leaved trees

Learn some simple characters to look for, and examine a range of specimens in the classroom to become familiar with important features

Observe growing trees in the arboretum to see how details relate to the whole individual

Undertake an identification challenge in a patch of native trees

Outcomes

By the end of the workshop, you will be able to:

Confidently recognise a range of our common native trees

Find your way around a guidebook to trees

Understand and apply principles of identification to woodland trees

Share why it’s useful to be able to distinguish between trees

Interpret your local treescape and connect to individual trees

Useful accessories: Collins Tree Guide (Owen Johnson, 2006), 10× hand lens

This half-day workshop is perfect for beginners or those new to digital photography. Take photographs in the Yorkshire Arboretum’s stunning landscape and receive advice and support from a qualified, enthusiastic teacher.

Book directly with Dave Bakes’ Ryedale Garden Photography website here.

View some of Dave’s work from the arboretum below:

Join Artist-in-Residence Jonathan Pomroy for a day of sketching in the arboretum. The course will focus on how to enjoy using a sketchbook. The aim will be to have several pages of sketches in pencil or watercolour or both. Jonathan will demonstrate his sketching techniques at several locations. 

We will use the beautiful grounds of Yorkshire Arboretum, especially the lake area, to wander and sketch landscapes, birds, flowers or trees. The day will be very flexible allowing students to draw subjects which inspire them within an area Jonathan can be accessible to all.

He will guide students through the sketching process rather than concentrate on studio painting. He believes sketching can create a special record of time and place and that the process involves really immersing yourself in the natural world. There will be plans for really wet weather alternatives.

A light lunch will be provided.

Equipment

• Watercolour paints and brushes of choice

• Good quality cartridge paper or watercolour paper sketchbook- A5 or bigger, landscape or portrait format depending on choice

• Range of pencils between HB-6B

• Water carrier

• Folding stool if desired

• Waterproofs

• Stout footwear

• Binoculars/ telescope if you want to sketch birds- optional

• Flask of tea or coffee if desired

• Shoulder bag or rucksack to carry equipment round

This event is fully booked.

Join our ever-popular wreath making workshop and make a luxury, rustic willow wreath for your home frm natural, locally-sourced materials. Show off your creativity and get into the Christmas spirit!

Booking essential. Complete the online form below or call 01653 648598.

Due to essential building work in the Visitor Centre, this event will take place at Welburn Village Hall.

This event is now sold out.

Join our director and expert plantsman, John Grimshaw, for a day course exploring our pines and other conifers. John will show you how to identify some of our pines, discuss their origins, and advise on the best species for your garden, whether large or small, the best time to plant them and how to care for them.

This event is now sold out.

Not sure how to plant your trees and shrubs? Do you know the best conditions to help your plantings prosper? It can be daunting. Join John Grimshaw and other experts from the Yorkshire Arboretum to learn the best techniques and timings for planting.

Normal admission applies. Booking required: Please call 01653 648598 or email visit@yorkshirearboretum.org to reserve your place.

Come and spend the day with our place-writing Poet in Residence and explore deeply the landscape of the arboretum. During the day we will look at work by other place writing poets, and explore different methods of writing. There will be some writing-together-time, and time spent alone in the landscape. A delicious lunch is included in the cost, and there will be an opportunity to share work and gain feedback at the end of the day.

This course is suitable to all levels of writing experience. Booking essential.

Have you any idea how many different oaks grow at the arboretum? In this day course our Director and expert plantsman, John Grimshaw, will introduce you to a range of Quercus from all over the northern hemisphere, as well as discussing the magnificent veteran oaks that reveal so much about the arboretum’s history.

THIS EVENT IS FULLY BOOKED.

In this day course with director and expert plantsman Dr John Grimshaw, we will discuss the great diversity of the genus Rhododendron, its place in the collection and how to identify species.

John will also advise on the best conditions for planting, cultivating and caring for them.

Light lunch and refreshments are included. 10% discount is available for RHS members.

This course is now fully booked.