Guided school visits at RHS Garden Wisley

How plants grow: Discovering plants
In this interactive journey through the garden, we will begin to understand how plants grow and what they need to grow healthily. We will explore our unique collection of plants from the smallest shoots to the largest trees and identify the important parts that all plants share. 

Discovering soil
What makes soil super? Pupils will learn how vital soil is to the planet, to us and to all living things. Get muddy by discovering different types of soil, what it's made of and its physical properties. Is soil living or dead? Find out why soil is so important to plants.

How plants grow: exploring plants
Get hands on with plants to understand their lifecycle: from seed, to shoot, to flower to fruit. We will investigate the fascinating ways that plants make and disperse seeds to reproduce. Explore the garden to discover plants in different stages of life and identify parts of flowering plants through nature's clues. 

Exploring soil
What makes soil special? By working scientifically, pupils will find out what soil is made from, how different rock types affect its properties and explore the perfect soil recipe. Learn how vital it is to all living things, including plants.

How plants grow: investigating plants
Think you know everything about plants? Think again! Pupils will explore the garden to investigate unusual adaptations of plants and group plants according to their characteristics. We will finish with some hands-on exploration of the mysterious ways in which plants can reproduce and even clone. 

Investigating soil
What makes soil spectacular? Plants thrive in soil that suits their needs. Using scientific equipment and taking measurements students will investigate the soil in our garden to understand how it influences which plants grow here.

Planting for the planet
Why is it great to be green? In this interactive session students will be encouraged to think about our impact on the environment and why plants are so important to the planet and their lives. Through hands-on activities and experiments, we'll find out about the important work RHS scientists are doing right now to protect our future. 

Who lives in our garden?
Plants need animals and animals need plants. Look high and low for the creatures in our garden and find out more about the important role they play for the plants and soil. Learn how to encourage biodiversity as you explore different garden habitats. 

Gardens are good for you
Pupils will give their senses a workout with a variety of interactive activities supporting them to discover, describe and connect with the world around them and appreciate gardens as an inspiring space. This session will promote wellbeing by connecting with nature.

Inspirational nature
Find inspiration in our unique garden and allow your pupils to reflect and respond to the constantly changing shapes, colours and textures through the seasons. Discover and use natural materials with a range of hands-on activities to begin your next art project. 

Discovering trees
Come and meet the biggest living things in our collection on a journey through the Pinetum or Arboretum. Identify a variety of native British trees as well as trees from around the world. Explore deciduous and evergreen trees, find out just how large the biggest tree in the world can get and use a range of methods to measure these garden giants. Learn about the importance of healthy trees in supporting biodiversity in our gardens and beyond. 

Plant hunters
Pack a passport and travel thousands of miles without leaving RHS Wisley. Discover how plants adapt to their surroundings as you journey through a steamy rainforest and hot arid desert. Be amazed at the range of adaptations that plants have evolved in order to thrive in some of Earth's most challenging biomes. Find out about the epic adventures of RHS plant hunters who collect plants from all over the world. 

Get growing
Become a gardener for the day and discover how to sow seeds, take cuttings, and assist with seasonal gardening tasks in the learning garden or allotments, whilst learning the requirements plants need for life and healthy growth. Be inspired to garden and enjoy hands­on experiences with plants in RHS Wisley's wonderful surroundings. Learn how being a gardener supports biodiversity and can have a positive environmental and personal impact. Please note: this workshop involves a significant walk so may not be suitable for EYFS. 

Inspiration for your National Education Nature Park
Be inspired by this fun and hands-on opportunity for students to explore an RHS Garden. Experience different habitats and learn about the diverse species that interact within them. Pupils will develop confidence in learning and using some of the skills needed to create and improve green spaces at school as part of the National Education Nature Park. The session will explore ways to observe, record, monitor and increase biodiversity. The workshop will inspire pupils to continue their Nature Park journey at school and will include planting something to take back to their school grounds. 

Plant reproduction and clone wars
Be an RHS Judge, a bee and a plant cloner all in one engaging workshop. Understand plant sexual and asexual reproduction by developing the practical skills required by commercial growers. Discover the benefits and challenges of plant reproduction for food security.

Plants keep us cool: carbon cycle
Plants are cool, especially to the air around them.  Discover the cooling effect of leaf transpiration by using infrared thermometers to investigate the relative temperatures of leaves and hard surfaces. Students will also learn how plants photosynthesise to capture carbon by journeying through the carbon cycle, highlighting the significance of plants’ role in storing carbon and forming the basis for most world ecosystems.

Beneath your feet: rocks and soil
Soil is amazing! Discover the hidden depths of rocks and soil and appreciate how soil is vital to our existence – from the food we eat, to the air we breathe. Understand how soil is the first step in our food chain, through scientific exploration of rocks and degradation, soil and decomposition.  Interact with the fantastic circle of life beneath our feet. 

Biomes and plant adaptations
Adventure awaits as you explore the world’s biomes: from hot deserts to steamy rainforests, the frozen mountains to temperate woodland, all in our unique garden setting. Students will discover how plants have evolved to thrive in these different environments and be challenged to link plant structure to form and function. Travel through time and space to learn about the incredible adaptations plants have evolved over millennia.

Inspirational nature
Find inspiration in our garden and allow your students to reflect and respond to the shapes, colours and textures of plants. With a focus on curiosity and imagination, we’ll be inspired by nature’s creations. Seed-carrying structures come in all shapes and sizes.  Discover the relationship between form and function in nature and their vital role in the life cycle of a plant. Each student will create an organic sculpture from clay and plant seeds to take home.

Gardens are good for you
Length: 90 minutes
Capacity: 4-15 (SEN) or 6-15 (mainstream)
Science says that gardens are good for you! Considering the garden as a wellbeing science lab, this session will promote wellbeing by connecting with nature through a garden experience. Students will give their senses a workout with a variety of interactive activities, supporting them to discover, describe and connect with the world around them and to appreciate gardens as an inspiring space. We will investigate how interacting with nature maks us feel and learn how caring for plants helps us to care for ourselves - healthy plants and healthy humans need similar things! 

Plants under attack
Solve the mystery of what’s killing our plants in this inquiry-based workshop. Uncover the hidden world of pathogens and their impact on plants. Students’ investigatory skills will be challenged as they learn to spot and identify diseases on garden plants and offer recommendations to remedy problems and help plants fight back. Students will consider the threat of plant disease to food security and appreciate the role plants have in the development of medicines that help humans fight disease.

Seasonal horticulture: autumn and winter
A practical workshop to discover why plants are important and how we look after them during autumn and winter. Learn how to prepare soil, sow seeds and meet our RHS Wisley worms.

Seasonal horticulture: spring
A practical workshop to discover why plants are important and how we look after them in spring. Learn how to support, protect and maintain healthy plants. Work as a team to build a structure suitable for growing beans and other climbing plants.

​Seasonal horticulture: summer
A practical workshop to discover why plants are important and how we look after them in summer.  Learn how to maintain healthy plants whilst embracing wildlife and sustainable growing techniques. Harvest and taste a little bit of produce from the garden.

Inspiration for your National Education Nature Park
Discover positive, measurable actions and ideas for the National Education Nature Park programme in this exciting workshop for students. Through hands-on activities at an RHS Garden, students will develop a greater connection to nature. They will improve their knowledge and agency to support biodiversity, implement habitat improvements and create school green spaces that are more resilient to climate change. The workshop will inspire students to continue their Nature Park journey at school and will include planting something to take back to their school grounds.