Plant Studies - Feel Good Gardens - Adult Learning

Plants are changing all the time. Become a botanical detective to find out more!

Finding, observing and recording a plant growing in its natural habitat at Feel Good Gardens will enable you to learn a lot about how and why plants grow, reproduce and adapt to their surroundings.

This course will take place at Feel Good Gardens, both outdoors looking at plants where they grow and indoors, using techniques to observe them much more closely. You will begin by simply looking at the plant and writing down its characteristics.

You will then use phone cameras and drawing materials to make detailed observations. Don’t worry, it doesn’t matter if you’ve never picked art materials up before!! This is about looking carefully at the plant, rather than producing a botanical artwork.

We will start by touring the site to look for specific plants (at different stages of their growth cycle where possible). We will then collect and gather specimens to take indoors and arrange so that we can make drawings of the plants in colour. We will be using drawing and coloured pencils and looking at all the parts of the plant including roots, leaves, shoots, flowers and seeds depending on the season. We will also use other media eg books and magazines to find out more about the plant.

No prior skills or knowledge about plants, gardening, botany or art are needed.

By the end of the course you will have learned a lot more about 3 different plants. This may include food plants, trees, herbs or flowers.

You will also have learned more about botany, including the history of botany and its methods..

What will you learn by the end of the course?

• You will learn 10 facts about botany, including how it is used and some botanical terms

• You will learn 5 different approaches to observing plants.

• You will learn about plants change over time.

• You will develop the confidence to create your own images of plants (either by drawing or taking photos).

• You will learn more about how others have observed and recording plants in the past.

What you will need to bring to the course:

• Please wear suitable outdoor clothing and footwear

• If you have a smartphone suitable for taking photos please bring it, but don’t worry if you don’t, as there will be ample images to look at

• Drawing materials and clipboards will be provided

• Writing materials will be provided

If you receive certain benefits you will be offered the course for free, however if you have a financial barrier which may prevent you from enrolling on the course, please visit our funding page for further information.

Residency in England

To book and enrol on one of our courses, you must be living in England permanently and live outside of the devolved areas listed below or live within the East Midlands Combined County Authority (EMCCA) devolved area (Nottinghamshire, Derbyshire).

• Barnsley, Doncaster, Rotherham and Sheffield 

• Cambridgeshire and Peterborough

• Greater London

• Greater Manchester

• Liverpool City Region

• Newcastle Upon Tyne, North Tyneside and Northumberland

• Tees Valley

• West of England

• West Midlands

• West Yorkshire

Residency Eligibility – other criteria

If you are living in the UK on a visa we will require evidence of this in order to be funded for the course, you can upload this evidence when you apply for the course. (completion of a questionnaire will be required).

Some exceptions may apply for example

• Your visa expiry date must be beyond the end of your course

• Asylum seekers must have lived in the UK for 6 months or longer while their claim is being considered by the Home Office

• You are receiving local authority support under section 23C or section 23CA of the Children Act 1989 or the Care Act 2014

Any learner who is not funded full cost fees would apply to these courses.