IT IS ALL THINGS TREES IN AUGUST AT BABYLONSTOREN

Posted by Lorenzo Samuels on 26 July 2018 4:05 AM CAT

Head for the magnificent Babylonstoren and take part in some educational workshops this August.  Topics for eager green fingers include espalier essentials, grafting and budding and indigenous trees.

Babylonstoren holds regular workshops as they see it as an ideal opportunity to share what they’ve learned – not only about their garden but about gardening in general.

They also regularly invite guests who are experts in their fields to host these workshops in collaboration with their gardening team. Their workshops tend to be small, with no more than 20 people per group.

They’re also quite hands-on so you will get to try out the skills, technique or discipline that they’re learning about. All their workshops include a walk through the garden and as such it’s usually a full-day affair.

Read more about the three workshops they offer during the month of August.

Espalier essentials – learning a bit of arbour art

01 August 2018 l 10:00 – 16:00

Be inspired by the different forms and patterns of our espaliered fruit trees – apples, pears, quince and nectarines grown in the Babylonstoren garden. Winter is the best time to admire these structures in their dormant simplicity, also to plant and prune for summer fruits.

Pruning pro Anton Roux helps us to plan before planting and will also give tips on selecting the best trees for espaliering. Secateurs in hand, he’ll guide us through the different stages of shaping an espaliered tree from year one to ten. You’ll also start your own espaliered tree to take home as a souvenir.

Lunch will be served at the Greenhouse Restaurant and is included in the price. For hotel guests, the workshop is included in your stay.

R700 per person

Tickets:  https://www.babylonstoren.com/experience/workshop/espalier-essentials-learning-a-bit-of-arbour-art

Grafting & budding

22 August 2018 l 10:00 – 16:00

We’ll take a walk and visit some of the special trees planted in our garden while Anton Roux shares some of their stories. One of these is the medlar that was grafted on quince, as well as our fruit trees grafted on special rootstocks.

Grafting is a very old technique – often our grandparents grafted trees so they could have different types of fruit growing on the same tree. The more modern technique of budding is such an easy skill that anyone can master it. With a bit of practice and a few special tricks up your sleeve, you will soon be growing all kinds of interesting combinations.

Put a day aside and join our garden team to get to know the different techniques and try your hand at some of the basics!

Lunch will be served at the Greenhouse Restaurant and is included in the price. For hotel guests, the workshop is included in your stay.

R700 per person

https://www.babylonstoren.com/experience/workshop/grafting-&-budding

Indigenous trees

29 August 2018 l 10:00 – 16:00

With over a thousand indigenous varieties, we celebrate the richness of South Africa’s trees. Come and spend the day with Ernst van Jaarsveld, looking at the diversity of trees in the various Southern African environments such as the highveld, bushveld, subtropical coast, seafront Karoo, Namib and fynbos. Our trees vary from the African baobab with the widest girth of any tree in the world to the flat-topped acacia so typical of Africa.

Explore the cultivation of trees at Babylonstoren and engage in the conversation about their use in the garden, propagation methods from seed and cuttings as well as pests and diseases.

Lunch will be served at the Greenhouse Restaurant and is included in the price. For hotel guests, the workshop is included in your stay.

R700 per person

https://www.babylonstoren.com/experience/workshop/indigenous-trees