Grow Your Own Cut Flowers with Sarah Raven at Perch Hill Farm, East Sussex

Sarah loves being able to pick armfuls of flowers for a good nine months of the year and in this day course will teach you how, giving you hard facts on how to succeed with growing the very best and most productive plants.

Through the day we will also give you practical advice on seed sowing and propagation, soil conditioning, mulching, staking and all the most important things we have found to help us succeed with nine month round flower production. See all you've been taught come to life at Perch Hill, with plenty of time to privately explore the garden.

Learn how to prepare, plant, maintain and harvest buckets of flowers from your garden from March through to November. We'll cover hardy and half-hardy annuals, biennials and sweet peas as well as tulips and other bulbs. You will also learn the best sowing and growing techniques so you can achieve easy yet brilliant results and plant rotation through the seasons to make the most of whatever space you have, little or large. We'll also cover flower conditioning techniques to make all your cut flowers last well in the vase.

• This course is taught by Sarah with assistance from Josie, her head gardener.
• It is a lecture with slides format, with some practical demos with the Perch Hill gardeners.
• You will also get a course hand-out covering all the information Sarah teaches on the day.
• It is held at Sarah's home - Perch Hill Farm, Brightling, Robertsbridge, East Sussex TN32 5HP.
• The day lasts from 10am until 4pm including tea/coffee on arrival, (from 10am for 10.30am prompt start).

Itinerary

Arrival from 10am for a 10:30am start
Coffee/tea and home-made biscuits served from 10:00 in the glasshouse.

Morning session 1: 10:30am - 11:30am
Meet Sarah and Josie —Perch Hill’s head gardener and the team. Sarah will guide you through the principles of the cut flower cut-and-come-again philosophy — how to get a lot of produce from minimal space.

Coffee/tea and home-made cake: 11:30am - 11:50am

Morning session 2: 11:50am - 1pm
Sarah will then show you the best plants to be sown/planted now to give you almost year-round picking just outside the door and give you growing tips and advice, plus a guide to conditioning flowers to make them last as long as possible in a vase.

Two course lunch 1pm - 2:15pm
Served in the greenhouse. Using recipes from Sarah's cookbooks and produce from the garden wherever we can. This is served with home-made cordial. Please contact events_srcg@thecuttinggarden.com if you have any special dietary requirements. There will be time for shopping, and for private wandering in the gardens at Perch Hill.

Demo: 2:15pm - 3:15pm
Covering lots of practical skills including propagation, pest and disease control, and staking, Josie will take you through the practical skills you need for time-efficient flower and colour production. She will also demonstrate how we propagate many of our plants from seeds and cuttings.

Q&A: 3:15pm - 3:30pm
Q&A with Sarah and Josie to clear up any queries you might still have.

Private wander around the garden: 3:30pm - 4pm
Time for a private wander at end of the day and any last minute shopping.

Day ends at 4pm

Directions to Perch Hill

From the M25
Turn off the M25 (junction 5) onto the A21 for Sevenoaks / Hastings, heading south. In good traffic conditions, the journey from this junction to Perch Hill Farm will take approximately one hour. Bypass Sevenoaks, Tonbridge, Tunbridge Wells and Pembury and continue on the A21 to Hurst Green. Turn right on the A265, signposted to Lewes. Go through Etchingham and continue to Burwash. Turn left by the church in Burwash follow this road down for 3 miles until you get to the crossroads at the top of the hill. Turn right into Willingford Lane (signposted Burwash Weald). Perch Hill Farm is on your right about ½ mile from the crossroads. Follow signs for Car Parking.

From a southerly direction
If you are approaching us from the direction of the coast via Battle take the B2096 Battle to Heathfield road. Go through Netherfield and on to Woods Corner. At The Swan Inn, on your left, turn right (signposted to Brightling) and follow the road for about ¾ mile, take the first left and go up the hill and turn first left into Willingford Lane. Follow the road down into the valley about ½ mile from the crossroads you will see Perch Hill Farm on your right. Follow signs for Car Parking.

From a westerly direction
If you’re coming in from the direction of Heathfield on the A265 travel through the town, up the hill and straight across the traffic lights, take the next right hand turn signposted to Battle (B2096). Continue through Punnett’s Town, Three Cups and on to Woods Corner. You will pass on the left a raised pathway and village post office just before a staggered crossroads with The Swan Inn on the opposite side. Turn left here and follow the road for about three-quarters of a mile, take the first left and go up the hill and turn first left into Willingford Lane. Follow the road down into the valley about ½ mile from the crossroads you will see Perch Hill Farm on your right. Follow signs for Car Parking.

Cancellations and refunds

If you are unable to attend a course/event you have booked and paid for:
A friend or family member is welcome to attend in your place. You will need to provide us with their name, dietary requirements and contact email address/phone number as soon as possible prior to the course/event date.

If we receive 8 weeks notice or more:
Sarah Raven's Cutting Garden Ltd will refund the full cost of your course/event.

If we receive more than 4 weeks notice:
Sarah Raven's Cutting Garden Ltd will transfer you to another suitable course/event of the same value. In this instance this must be a straight swap onto another course we have availability on within the same season. I,e no more than 6 weeks from the original course date booked. Furthermore, we are unable to carry course credits over to the following calendar year. Please note, we cannot issue vouchers to spend on other products at sarahraven.com.

If we receive less than 4 weeks notice:
We are unable to offer a refund or transfer as we have inadequate time to re-sell the place. A friend or family member is welcome to attend in your place. If you find you are unable to attend a Course with less than 4 weeks’ notice, please call us so we may advise further. A course/event place purchased as a gift carries the same cancellation policy. The course value cannot be transferred over to use on Sarah Raven products.

If we need to cancel a course/event:
Sarah Raven's Cutting Garden Ltd may cancel any course/event due to illness or very low numbers, and you will then have the option of a transfer to another course/event of the same value or a full refund of your payment.

Contacting us

For all enquiries contact events_srcg@thecuttinggarden.com.