take a break
Nature Gathering combines botanical creativity with learning about gardening in a wilder way – with a lighter touch.
For this course, you will immerse yourself in Rachel’s cutting garden over four seasons, increasing your connection to nature, whilst learning how to grow and garden with a wilder intent.
You will use foraged and grown ingredients to develop your creativity, and enhance your nature connection using different techniques.
This course is a fabulous way to connect with like minded souls, to connect with the seasons, to transform your relationship with your outside space, and to play and learn in a relaxed, beautiful environment.
What does it include?
Your group will meet every 2 months, starting in February and ending in December, so 6 gatherings in total. At each meeting, there will be a session in the morning on creating a garden and growing flowers with a wilder aesthetic and habitat creation in mind.
Three of the morning sessions will be led by Guy Petheram, a garden designer specialising in naturalistic and wildlife friendly gardens, who helped to create the therapy garden and habitat friendly cutting garden at Doddington. The other gardening sessions will be led by Rachel, focussing on growing cut flowers.
During the afternoon sessions, you will use seasonal ingredients to create something beautiful, using floristry techniques such as hand-tied bouquets and beautiful undone urns, and other techniques such as botanical printing, bark rubbings and tataki zome – the Japanese art of flower pounding.
In the final December session, you will make Christmas wreaths together and celebrate the end of your seasonal journey. Keeping the group small means that you can focus on yourself, your creativity and intentions for your outside space, whilst forming a close knit and supportive group of nature loving people.
The Practical Stuff
The gatherings are hosted in Rachel’s floral haven in the walled kitchen garden at Doddington Hall, from 10am – 4.30pm. All flowers, vessels, art materials are provided and you will of course take your creations away with you, as well as seeds and plants propagated from the garden.
A delicious lunch and refreshments will be provided and the maximum number of guests for these sessions is 4 people.
The investment is £1215 and payment can be made either in one payment or across three instalments.
The dates for 2026 are: 18 February, 22 April, 17 June, 19 August, 14 October, 16 December.
