Wildlife Gardening Course
Join us for an introductory 8-week course on how to garden for wildlife. Manx Wildlife Trust is delighted to be offering this adult education course for a second time. The course aims to cover the fundamentals of how to encourage and support wildlife in your garden through classroom-based and practical learning.
We are delighted that alongside MWT tutors, Leigh Morris and Andree Dubbeldam, some of the sessions will be delivered by Jane Prescott, who designed the garden at St John's and has a wealth of experience in horticulture, design and engaging people with nature.
The course itself will broadly cover all aspects of what you can do to encourage/support wildlife in your garden, including the different types of habitats you can provide, building wildlife homes, looking after your soil and managing for the long term. On completion of the course and the journal, participants will receive a certificate from Manx Wildlife Trust.
The course is certificated and requires participants to complete interventions for wildlife in a garden and reflect on those interventions in a journal. It is not necessary for participants to have their own garden to complete the course but they must have access to a garden to complete their interventions. This could be a neighbour, friend or family member’s garden or access to a community garden. On completion of the course and the journal, participants will receive a certificate from Manx Wildlife Trust.
“Such a great course, so brilliantly delivered… so much knowledge and varied subjects. I really, really enjoyed this course and am very inspired.”
Course Details:
- 8 week course (20 hours contact time and 10 hours of private study)
- Who: This course is for adults who would like to learn the fundamentals of how to garden for wildlife
- When: Thursdays, 6:30-9pm from 9th May - 11th July (see course timetable below for dates).
- Where: St Johns Mill (with an inside teaching space and a wildlife garden for practical learning)
- Price: £225 for MWT members and £250 for non-members
- If you have any questions please contact MWT Education Officer Beth Penhallurick at beth@mwt.im
For booking and payment please visit: https://app.tickettailor.com/events/mwt/1204674
To book your space on the Gardening for Wildlife Course, you can pay the £60 non-refundable deposit now to secure your place and then pay the remaining balance before Thursday the 25th April (2 weeks before the course begins) via the link in the confirmation email you will be sent.
Please note spaces are very limited on this course so booking is essential.
Meet the Tutors
Leigh Morris
Leigh joined MWT as CEO in January 2020 and has a background in horticulture and horticultural education. His previous roles include nursery manager at Pershore College of Horticulture, lecturer and Head of Horticulture at the Welsh College of Horticulture, and Head of the School of Horticulture at the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh (RBGE). While at RBGE, he developed into far more of a conservationist and he believes horticulture has an increasingly important part to play in nature conservation in the future (Ref: Leigh’s recent article on Conservation Horticulture in the IOM). This includes private gardens, which collectively are a significant percentage of the Isle of Man and British Isles.
Andree Dubbeldam
Andree Dubbeldam BSc (Hons) PGCert, joined MWT in 2002 as a ‘Wildflowers of Mann Project Manager’. His work for MWT has included leading a survey of the Island’s flora, launching the Ramsey Forest Project, working in the ‘Wildlife Sites’ project and helping landowners create new woodlands, wetlands, meadows and other habitats across the Island. Andree also works as a part-time lecturer at the Isle of Man College, where he teaches courses in the land-based sector.
Jane Prescott
Jane Prescott is a Chartered Landscape Architect, with extensive experience of working for both commercial and private clients, both in the Isle of Man and across. Jane founded Prescott Associates, a landscape architecture practice, in 1982 with her late husband Steve. Jane specialises in environmental consultancy and the creation of natural landscapes and especially loves designing gardens, helping clients create their own special spaces. Jane undertook a Diploma course in Herbology in Edinburgh, studying the history, cultivation and use of medicinal herbs. Following this, Jane established The Manx Herbalist in 2018, a business which teaches about the power of plants for healing us through food, medicine and our relationship with nature.
"The MWT wildlife gardening course was incredible. I had read so many books and watched hundreds of videos to learn how to encourage wildlife into my garden, but there is no substitute for learning directly from the experts. My course mates were a lovely, friendly group and I’ve no doubt the tutors are the best in the Island – their knowledge was mind blowing. I finished the course so inspired with lots of practical tips and my garden is now full of life, including the first clutch frogspawn in my three-year-old pond this spring.”