Whatever scale your garden may be, plant combinations and strong border design are key elements in creating your garden's wow factor or contributing to your required ambience.
Horticulturalist Sally Newbrook will introduce you to the principles of border design, looking at how different plants can be used to give ground cover, height, interest, unity, and ultimately create the border style that you are striving for.
Please note, this workshop will take place in several different parts of the Garden, which participants will need to be able to walk (or use a scooter etc).
Tutor: Sally Newbrook joined the team at Rosemoor in 2016 and was lucky enough to work with some of the original team who built the formal gardens in 1989. She studied Ecology at the University of Sussex, where she realised she had a passion for growing plants and learning Latin plant names. Sally gained the RHS Level 2 Diploma whilst volunteering with the National Trust at Nymans and Monk's House.She then spent a further 2 years as a student at Tresco Abbey Gardens on the Scilly Isles, before joining the Curatorial team RHS Harlow Carr as a Level 3 student.
Sally has been a Team Leader in the Formal Gardens since 2020, and has been involved in many exciting projects such as the planting design of the new Winter Garden and the redesign of the rope swag beds in the shrub rose garden - a project that will be completed by Summer 2026 with 47 new rose varieties! Sally has always enjoyed pruning and training roses, and as a rose specialist, she leads on the rose maintenance, events and training at RHS Rosemoor. Sally is particularly interested in the wilder historic roses, the stories that go with them and their unique qualities.
Location and arrival information: The tutor will meet you on the Visitor Centre terrace and the workshop will take place entirely outside in the garden. Please allow 15 minutes to park in the main visitor car park, enter the garden and assemble on the Visitor Centre terrace.
Catering: This workshop does not include catering. You are welcome to visit the onsite catering before or after your workshop. Full details of the available outlets and what they offer are on the
RHS Rosemoor Food and Drink page of the RHS website.
For this workshop you will need:
- Your booking reference number to show to the team at the Garden Entrance.
- A notebook and pencil to make notes.
- Clothing suitable for being outdoors, appropriate to weather on the day.
- Closed-toed shoes (not flipflops or sandals)
Skill Level: Upskiller – I have mastered the basics of gardening and would like to build my horticultural knowledge and skills.
