Tutor: Hannah Farthing
Date: Wednesday 2nd April 2025
Time: 10:00 - 16:00
Cost: £85
Location: Classroom

This course will provide you with a comprehensive introduction to the linocut printmaking process. Firstly, you will explore the Garden to gather seasonal inspiration for your prints through drawing and photography before returning to the Classroom. Here, Hannah will guide you through the whole linocut process from sketching your design to carving and printing your block. You will be encouraged to explore mark-making and experiment with inking and embellishment techniques. You will leave with new ideas, a stack of linocut prints ready to frame or gift and your hand-carved block.

Tutor: Caroline Henrickson
Date: Wednesday 16th April 2025
Time: 10:00 - 13:00
Cost: £45
Location: Classroom

Taking inspiration from the Garden, come and join Caroline Henricksen for a fun, relaxing and creative morning collaging spring flower cards. Caroline will take you through the process she uses to create her botanical collage pieces, starting with you creating your own collage surfaces using paints, foliage, vintage paper, magazines, old books, wallpaper and even toothbrush and paint rollers. Just about anything can be used to collage. Playing with patterns and textures can produce some really interesting and beautiful results. You are welcome to bring in your own additional materials to work with (for example old prints, poems, books) but everything is provided on the day. Just turn up and create!

Tutor: Charlie Allen
Date: Wednesday 25th June 2025
Time: 10:00 - 16:00
Cost: £85
Location: Classroom

In this ‘Bloom’ themed workshop, you will learn essential calligraphy techniques using a dip pen and ink, and how to make hand-poured wax seals with assorted materials from dried flowers to vellum. We will begin by practising the basic calligraphy strokes, progressing to the alphabet and connecting letters. Following this, you will have the opportunity to develop words and cultivate your unique style. After a short break to walk around the Garden to gain we will create greeting cards, gift tags or a piece of A5 art. You’ll also get a personalised gift bag for your worksheets, pen holder & nib, ink, & items you’ve made along with a few little extra luxury stationery items. All equipment is provided.

Tutor: Emma James
Date: Thursday 10th July 2025 - Friday 11th July 2025
Time: 10:00 - 16:00
Cost: £170
Location: Classroom

We will start with a walk in the Garden to collect leaves and fallen plant material. Once back in the classroom we’ll use these to use to print your own individual covers, pages and inserts for your sketchbooks. There will be demonstrations of printmaking technique and uses of materials. You will work with monoprinting to create unique prints to build within the construct of your books, and create layered prints using and combining plant materials, mark making, textured materials and masking techniques. On day two we will select which prints to use for your books: a simple sewn sketchbook with printed covers and inserts, and a printed concertina Artist’s Book, including printed inserts. A step-by-step demonstration will be given of how to measure, cut, crop and prepare your prints and how to construct your books. By the end of the course, you will have created three individual books and many prints.

Tutor: Grace Hailstone
Date: Wednesday 16th July 2025
Time: 10:00 - 16:00
Cost: £85
Location: Classroom

Make unique monoprints exploring silhouettes of leaves and ‘ghost prints’ using a miniature etching press. Working with positive and negative shapes, spacing and texture, we will create unique original prints on cotton-based paper using real leaves and materials. Participants can bring collected organic materials to print with, materials will also be provided. We will begin with making simple silhouettes then expanding to create multi layered images full of organic shapes and textures. Image sizes will be a maximum of 10 cm.

Tutor: Susie Turner
Date: Tuesday 29th July 2025 - Wednesday 30th July 2025
Time: 10:00 - 16:00
Cost: TBC
Location: Classroom

This practical workshop will introduce participants to the simple technique of cyanotype using the rich collection of foliage and found objects in the Botanic Garden as inspiration. Participants will learn how to transfer botanical specimens, found objects, drawings and photographs into unique cyanotype prints using a range of suitable papers and ready-made cyanotype sensitizer solution. There will also be the opportunity to work with pre-coated fabric.

Tutor: Grace Hailstone
Date: Saturday 13th September 2025
Time: 10:00 - 16:00
Cost: £85
Location: Classroom

A zine (pronounced "zeen") is a small, homemade booklet or magazine. They can be created to share ideas, art, stories, or interests. On this course we will discuss zine making and look at examples, then we will individually explore the Botanic Garden to take photos and do some sketching. Afterwards we will return to the Classroom for more drawing and discussion, and come up with our narrative for our zines. We will then make hand drawn or collaged zines together using cutting and folding techniques.

Tutor: Susie Turner
Date: Wednesday 29th October 2025
Time: 10:00 - 16:00
Cost: £85
Location: Classroom

This one-day workshop will introduce participants to the simple but effective method of monoprinting directly using a selection of pressed autumnal leaves as primary source material. Monoprinting is the method of producing one or several unique prints. The technique offers fine detail and versatility in image making. During this one-day workshop, participants will learn how to make monoprints using oil-based water washable inks, a small professional printing press as well as learn how to print without a press, using hand burnishing techniques. The course is open to all levels and materials will be provided.

Tutor: Charlotte Aldis and Patsy Rathbone
Date: Wednesday 28th May 2025
Time: 10:00 - 16:00
Cost: £90
Location: Classroom

Environmentally safe and without the use of any chemicals, the image is scratched into the surface of the plate using a drypoint needle. Gathering inspiration from the wealth of flora in the Botanic Garden, you will collect, sketch or photograph leaves and flowers to create a botanical image. You will transform this into a drypoint etching and learn how to ink and print your image on a small, table-top press. Developing your work throughout the day you will create multiple, varied prints using a seasonal colour palette. The beauty of this technique is that you do not need any drawing skills or prior knowledge to create a beautiful print. All printing materials will be provided and etching needles will be available to use. Gloves and cleaning materials will be supplied but you will need to bring an apron or similar.

Tutor: Emma James
Date: Thursday 27th November 2025 - Friday 28th November 2025
Time: 10:00 - 16:00
Cost: £170
Location: Classroom

In this two day workshop we will explore the Garden to sketch and take photos of winter views for the lino image to cut and print. We will then plan, cut and print a reduction linocut with three colour layers in winter tones of greys and blues. Materials and some tools will be available to use, but you will need your own set of lino cutting tools, as well as a box or folder to take away your prints.

Tutor: Maike Dring
Date: Thursday 30th January 2025
Time: 10:00 - 13:00
Cost: £45
Location: Classroom

Discover how you can use aromatherapy essential oils to support your health and wellbeing during the winter months. We explore the use of essential oils to counteract colds, coughs, poor circulation, challenges to our skin and more caused by the colder season. Learn how to prepare essential oils to use safely in the home setting on your skin, in the bath, for compresses, inhalations and more. This is very much a practical course giving you demonstrations of how to blend essential oils ready to use. A demonstration and guided hand massage addressing some cold symptoms is included. Course notes and materials provided. No previous experience necessary. Participants take home an aromatherapy blend to help with cold symptoms.

Tutors: Nick Gosman and Fay Jones
Date: Tuesday 25th March 2025 - Wednesday 26th March 2025
Time: 10:00 - 16:00
Cost: £185
Location: Classroom

In ancient times, woodlands provided everything we needed from building materials, food, firewood, herbal remedies and natural dyes. Woodcarvers Nick Gosman and Fay Jones will take you through how to sharpen tools safely, which tools to buy and basic carving techniques. At the end of the first day, you’ll take home your own spoon. On day two you will learn how to make a simple Kuksa bowl similar to those made by the Sámi nomads in Finland. We will take you from basic wood preparation, carving the bowl with an axe, gouge work and finishing to make a bowl that you can take away with you. All tools are provided including chopping and gouge blocks.

Tutor: Catherine Tregaskes
Date: Tuesday 1st April 2025
Time: 10:00 - 13:00
Cost: £45
Location: Classroom

The wigwams are perfect for supporting annual climbers like sweet peas or beans in your garden; drying the wigwams and storing them over winter ensures they will last for many years to come. No prior experience is necessary, but you will need good hand strength and dexterity, as well as the ability to stand for a few hours. All materials, including some sourced from the Botanic Garden, and equipment are provided — just wear older clothes and be ready to get creative!

Tutor: Anna Martin
Date: Thursday 29th May 2025
Time: 10:00 - 13:00
Cost: £45
Location: Classroom

A fun short course to introduce you to the joy of decorating cakes with beautiful flowers.
Learn different piping techniques with buttercream and how to make fondant flowers.
Using the flowers you make, as well as edible seasonal fresh and dried flowers, you will then decorate four cupcakes baked by Anna to take home.

Tutor: Maike Dring
Date: Tuesday 15th July 2025
Time: 10:00 - 16:00
Cost: £90
Location: Classroom

In this course we explore how you can make the most out of aromatic herbs growing in your own gardens and pots. You will discover how you can use them and their essential oils to enhance your everyday health and wellbeing and how to use them in cooking. We will also make some home-made beauty and wellbeing preparations during the course for you to take home. We will cover ten different herbs over the day. A light lunch prepared with herbs will be available to share.

Tutor: Catherine Tregaskes
Date: Tuesday 30th September 2025 - Wednesday 1st October 2025
Time: 10:00 - 16:00
Cost: £185
Location: Classroom

In this course, we will use a variety of willows to make a round or oval basket. Beginners would be able to make a round basket with a traditional or contemporary handle. Improvers can make a round basket and try different weaves or make an oval basket if they are confident in the steps required to make a round basket. No qualifications are required; however, you do need reasonable dexterity and strength in your hands to be able to manipulate the willow. All materials and equipment will be supplied. Numbers on this course are limited to ensure 1:1 guidance from Catherine.

Tutor: Nick Gosman and Fay Jones
Date: Tuesday 14th October 2025
Time: 10:00 - 16:00
Cost: £95
Location: Classroom

Have you dabbled with greenwood spoon carving and are keen to take your skills to the next level? Then this one-day course in end-grain greenwood tankard carving is an opportunity to extend your skills. We will teach you how to make a tankard, like the ones seen on House of the Dragon and Game of Thrones. We will take you from basic wood preparation, carving the tankard with an axe, auger and gouge work and finishing of the tankard that you can take away with you. We will provide you with all the tools you need including chopping, auger and gouge blocks.

Tutor: Paula Edgington
Date: Thursday 12th June 2025
Time: 10:00 - 13:00
Cost: £75
Location: Classroom

In this workshop, we will discuss ways and means of working more sustainably when flower arranging by looking at alternative methods of arranging without traditional floral foam. You will create your own beautiful arrangement to take home with you. In addition, during the workshop, we will discuss a wider, more holistic approach to arranging sustainably. Materials and equipment are provided.

Tutor: Janie Pirie
Date: Tuesday 4th March 2025 - Thursday 6th March 2025
Time: 10:00 - 13:00
Cost: £110
Location: Online

During this workshop Janie will show you how to colour a Hellebore from a photograph. Although this won’t teach you how to draw, you will learn how to use coloured pencils and get the very best out of them, enabling you to create more of your own art using this wonderful, but very forgiving medium. Janie will demonstrate how to tackle the detailed centres of these beautiful flowers, as well as how to colour their intricate petals and markings.

Tutor: Lizzie Harper
Date: Thursday 13th March 2025 - Friday 14th March 2025
Time: 10:00 - 16:00
Cost: £155
Location: Classroom

This two-day course gives you the chance to get lost in drawing and painting the gorgeous cherry blossom and magnolias flowering in Cambridge University Botanic Garden. Join Lizzie for a two-day course looking at, learning about, and drawing and painting these stunning springtime blooms.

Tutor: Janie Pirie
Date: Tuesday 18th March 2025 - Thursday 20th March 2025
Time: 10:00 - 16:00
Cost: £210
Location: Classroom

Fruit and vegetables have long been a favourite of the botanical illustrator, but taking a look at them from the inside is possibly even more exciting. We’re not talking about two or three tiny pips inside an apple but more the glorious formation of pips inside a bell pepper or a melon, or even the juicy inside of an orange or grapefruit. There are endless subjects just waiting for us to open them up and record the bits we don’t see. There will be lots of demonstrations as well as individual tuition from your RHS gold medal award-winning tutor.

Tutor: Reinhild Raistrick
Date: Tuesday 8th April 2025 - Wednesday 9th April 2025
Time: 10:00 - 16:00
Cost: £155
Location: Online

Celebrate the beauty of spring by learning to illustrate vibrant tulips in this two-day watercolour course. Early April is the perfect time to capture these stunning blooms, and the course offers a unique opportunity to work in situ with tulips from the Garden's national collection displayed in the Alpine glasshouse. Under the expert guidance of Reinhild, you'll learn techniques for recording the rapidly changing blooms and capturing their brilliant colours with precision. Cut stems and potted bulbs will also be provided in the classroom for close observation and practice.

Tutor: Lizzie Harper
Date: Wednesday 14th May 2025 - Friday 16th May 2025
Time: 10:00 - 16:00
Cost: £210
Location: Classroom

This workshop will look at leaf variety and is a chance to take plenty of time to study and illustrate one leaf in detail in watercolour. We’ll look at using watercolour and mixing greens, shadows, veins and patterns on a leaf, and how to build up layers of colour and detail. If there’s time, you’ll be able to work on more than one leaf, comparing colour, shape, and vein structure. Lizzie will be on hand throughout the course doing demonstrations, teaching, and giving one-to-one advice and tips. This course is suitable for all levels with group and individual guidance. A suggested materials list will be provided a few weeks before the start of the course.

Tutor: Lizzie Harper
Date: Wednesday 2nd July 2025 - Friday 4th July 2025
Time: 10:00 - 16:00
Cost: £210
Location: Classroom

This three-day course will celebrate the beautiful annual summer flower meadow at Cambridge University Botanic Garden. Over the first two days, we will observe, draw and paint the cornflowers, poppies, marigolds, grasses and daisies growing in the meadow. This will include a talk on the wildflower meadow by Dr Raphaella Hull, the Garden’s Higher Education and Interpretation Coordinator. On the final day, you will use your sketches and skills to work on an illustration combining several of these glorious summer flowers.

Tutor: Reinhild Raistrick
Date: Tuesday 9th September 2025 - Wednesday 10th September 2025
Time: 10:00 - 16:00
Cost: £155
Location: Classroom

The end of summer and the beginning of autumn reward us with a wonderful array of brightly coloured fruit and unusual seedheads. In this two-day watercolour course, you will create a medley of images using various watercolour techniques, from dry brushwork to wet-in-wet washes. Botanical artist Reinhild Raistrick will be on hand to guide you through the process, from composing a pleasing portrait to painting the shine on glossy berries and mixing the colours for an autumn leaf.

Tutor: Janie Pirie
Date: Tuesday 07th October 2025 - Thursday 09th October 2025
Time: 10:00 - 16:00
Cost: £210
Location: Classroom


It’s not often beginners get the chance to learn the absolute basics of coloured pencil art. On this course, Janie will take you through all the fundamentals to start your journey into the wonderful world of coloured pencils. Simple subjects will be available for you to draw, before transferring your drawing to good quality art paper. You will then begin learning how to lay down colour so it looks like a brush stroke of paint, how to blend colours seamlessly and how to create veins and contours on leaves to make them look amazingly three-dimensional.

Tutor: Janie Pirie
Date: Wednesday 11th November 2025 - Friday 13th November 2025
Time: 10:00 - 13:00
Cost: £110
Location: Online

A chance to learn about using coloured pencils without the worry of having to draw something first! You will be supplied with a photograph taken by Janie, your tutor, together with a line drawing for you to trace and transfer. Instructions will be sent before the course. You will see demonstrations throughout the course to help you go through the process in the right order, helping you to end up with a beautiful rose illustration of your own.

Tutor: Catherine Tregaskes
Date: Wednesday 19th November 2025
Time: 10:00 - 13:00
Cost: £45
Location: Classroom

We will use different varieties of willow as a material to make a range of Christmas themed decorations including reindeer, angels and trees. This course is suitable for all abilities, however, you do need reasonable dexterity and strength in your hands to be able to manipulate the willow. All materials and equipment will be supplied. Numbers on this course are limited to ensure 1:1 guidance from Catherine.

Tutor: Catherine Tregaskes
Date: Thursday 20th November 2025
Time: 10:00 - 13:00
Cost: £45
Location: Classroom

We will use different varieties of willow as a material to make a range of Christmas themed decorations including reindeer, angels and trees. This course is suitable for all abilities, however, you do need reasonable dexterity and strength in your hands to be able to manipulate the willow. All materials and equipment will be supplied. Numbers on this course are limited to ensure 1:1 guidance from Catherine.

Tutor: Maike Dring
Date: Tuesday 2nd December 2025
Time: 10:00 - 13:00
Cost: £70
Location: Classroom

Get into the festive spirit! Explore the many ways in which essential oils can make and enhance Christmas presents. We will make aromatic bath salts and create a personal perfume pulse oil as an early Christmas present for ourselves! Last but not least, you will take a special essential oil blend home to create a lovely Christmas atmosphere. Course notes and materials provided. Spaces on this course are limited to make time for plenty of 1:1 guidance.

Tutor: Paula Edgington
Date: Thursday 4th December 2025
Time: 10:00 - 13:00
Cost: £75
Location: Classroom

Join florist Paula Edgington to start your festive season and make your own garden-inspired festive wreath. No previous experience is needed as you will be taken through the process step-by-step. The wreath will be made from scratch and will have a moss-based ring. You will then cover it in a selection of festive evergreen foliage and berries which have been gathered from the Botanic Garden, followed by a choice of decorations from natural pinecones, cinnamon bundles, dried fruit and more, and finally a ribbon to hang it up. Come and have fun, learn a new skill, be creative and leave with your very own handmade festive wreath for your front door. This course is suitable for all levels and everything you need is provided.

Tutor: Caroline Henrickson
Date: Thursday 11th December 2025
Time: 10:00 - 13:00
Cost: £45
Location: Classroom

Taking winter inspiration from the Garden, come and join Caroline Henricksen for a fun, relaxing and creative morning collaging botanical cards. Caroline will take you through the process she uses to create her botanical collage pieces, starting with you creating your own collage surfaces using paints, foliage, vintage paper, magazines, old books, wallpaper and even toothbrush and paint rollers. Just about anything can be used to collage. Playing with patterns and textures can produce some really interesting and beautiful results. You are welcome to bring in your own additional materials to work with (for example old prints, poems, books) but everything is provided on the day. Just turn up and create!

Tutor: Paula Edgington
Date: Thursday 5th December 2025
Time: 10:00 - 13:00
Cost: £75
Location: Classroom

Join florist Paula Edgington to start your festive season and make your own garden-inspired festive wreath. No previous experience is needed as you will be taken through the process step-by-step. The wreath will be made from scratch and will have a moss-based ring. You will then cover it in a selection of festive evergreen foliage and berries which have been gathered from the Botanic Garden, followed by a choice of decorations from natural pinecones, cinnamon bundles, dried fruit and more, and finally a ribbon to hang it up. Come and have fun, learn a new skill, be creative and leave with your very own handmade festive wreath for your front door. This course is suitable for all levels and everything you need is provided.