Looking to get in touch with nature before summer ends?

These four spots can offer a whole host of creative activities, including a garden workshop or two…

Wild Gorse

What: The studio, in a peaceful corner of Inverness-shire, hosts a professional garden workshop
Where: Cart Shed, South Belladrum IV4 7BA

Bread-making in the south of France, a yoga retreat in Bali, painting classes in Tuscany… There’s something equally enticing that could be added to this list, and it’s right here in Scotland. How about floristry school in the Highlands?

Julia Kirk, head of Belladrum studio Wild Gorse, has created a learning environment that feels as though it belongs in a dreamscape. The studio, in a peaceful corner of Inverness-shire, hosts a professional garden workshop (two days every month for six months) which will lead you through the seasons and teach you an abundance of traditional techniques and approaches. There’s also a sense of play alongside the practical help, with f loral art being celebrated at every turn.

If six months is too much of a commitment, Wild Gorse’s shorter masterclasses are a great alternative. These are fully immersive two-day events exploring different elements of floristry. The recent summer masterclass in June took participants through the art of creating tablescape designs for alfresco dining.

Elsewhere on the calendar are weaving workshops and ‘Wild & Well’ days of forest bathing and restorative yoga.

Visit the Wild Gorse website | Follow Wild Gorse on Instagram

Balgove Larder

What: A garden workshop programme that offers garden-to-vase experiences, allowing participants to pick flowers from the walled garden and create their own arrangement
Where: Strathtyrum Farm, Strathtyrum, St Andrews KY16 9SF

Balgove Larder, the celebrated farm shop just outside St Andrews, has teamed up with Strathtyrum Flowers to create a series of floral workshops and garden tours on the Strathtyrum estate. The workshops offer garden-to-vase experiences, allowing participants to pick flowers from the walled garden and create their own arrangement. There’s a dahlia-specific workshop in the calendar, as well as guidance on how to dry and arrange seasonal flowers.

The final garden workshop of the year, dubbed ‘Meadow in a Frame’, will see participants create frames out of foraged branches and chicken wire, then arrange an eclectic ‘meadow’ made of dried flowers.

Most workshops are hosted on a Saturday and last for two hours and are led by head gardener David Angus and florist Aileen Robbie. Flowers from the walled garden are available seasonally at Balgove Larder’s Garden Shed (a verdant hub stocked with bouquets made from home-grown flowers and other greenery) but the walled garden is only occasionally open to the public who book in for a garden workshop so these tours offer a rare opportunity to take a peek around the impressive Victorian garden.

Visit the Balgove Larder website | Follow Balgove Larder on Instagram

Mud Urban

What: An Anniesland studio that hosts a ‘peonies and pastries’ garden workshop where participants can learn to make a bouquet using three varieties of peony and other seasonal flowers
Where: Anniesland, Glasgow

If you’re not familiar with Glasgow’s Mud Urban, where have you been? The modish florist opened up shop in 2017 and really hit the ground running. You’ll have seen Mud Urban flowers decorating Scotland’s most chic weddings, and the brand’s decadent bouquets (complete with unmistakable pink logo) regularly crop up on stylish social feeds. It was never just about flowers, though; the team behind Mud Urban – headed up by creative director Chloe Murray – is always keen to get the community involved with a good old garden workshop.

Thanks to the brand’s passionate approach and creativity, the seasonal garden workshops have a dedicated fanbase. Recently, the Anniesland studio hosted a ‘peonies and pastries’ workshop where participants could learn to make a bouquet using three varieties of peony and other seasonal flowers. The session was fuelled, of course, by flaky croissants from Company Bakery.

Mud’s spring garden workshop covers things like making bespoke bouquets or table centrepieces, and there’s often a glass of fizz or a snack on hand. The autumn workshops (launching soon) completely sold out last year, so keep an eye on the website and get in there quick.

Visit the Mud Urban website | Follow Mud Urban on Instagram

Pyrus Botanicals

What: A walled garden and the Pavilion that are surrounded by flowers and provide inviting spaces to create, connect, play and be inspired
Where: West Saltoun, Pencaitland, Walled Garden EH34 5DS

Fiona Inglis, owner of Pyrus Botanicals, has created a new Learning Pavilion in her impressive Victorian walled garden in East Lothian – the perfect location for a lovely garden workshop. The three-acre garden itself is a treat to explore, with fragrant runs of planting leading to polytunnels packed with colourful blooms. The new structure (designed by Bothanna Cabins) sits to the right, a raised, open-sided cabin with shingle panelling along the back wall, all constructed from local wood.

The Pavilion will host a series of creative workshops and events throughout the year. So far, it has already seen Easter events, using plant dyes and cuttings from the garden to decorate eggs, and guided tours of the garden. Expect to see plenty of other events over the summer, including picking your own flowers from the wildflower meadow, botanical printmaking, flower drawing, yoga in the garden, tea ceremonies and seasonal lunch in the meadow.

Dreamy, huh? In the late 1800s, the walled garden was part of an estate buzzing with a large community. Fiona is excited to revive this sense of connection and invite a whole host of creatives into the space.

Visit the Pyrus Botanicals website | Follow Pyrus Botanicals on Instagram

Want to learn more about a garden workshop in Scotland? Read about our visit to Balgove Larder below.

Join us at Balgove Larder for a late summer floristry workshop that wows