New York Botanical Garden Classes at the Nature Center

Drawing II is a continuation of Drawing I: Basic as it relates to the accurate drawing of plants. Students apply the foundations and learn how to draw each aspect of plants: stems, leaves, branches, root systems, and flowers. Students should take Drawing II immediately following Drawing I. A materials list is mailed with your confirmation letter. Please bring lunch for classes meeting all day.

Become skilled at retrieving your images. Learn methods of processing, organizing, and managing your photos. Explore proper naming, filing, organizing, printing, Web site usage, and e-mailing of images. Basic image control, enhancement, alteration, sizing, cropping, and rotation are demonstrated. Prerequisite: Experience taking photos with a digital camera. Bringing a digital camera to class is optional.

Whether a terrace, rooftop, or nook tucked into a corner of a backyard, cottage gardening can transform a space into an exuberant, colorful, and fragrant place. Taking its elegance and classic design from England, American cottage gardening has its own style, choice of plants, and attitude. After viewing slides of local cottage gardens, from the surprisingly formal to the purely simple, study the design concepts, and techniques. Explore planting possibilities, including small trees, shrubs, evergreens, annuals, perennials, and wildflowers. Please bring lunch.

Drawing upon 30 years of evaluating a wide range of popular and exotic, ornamental woody plants, Brad Roeller highlights trees and shrubs that are inherently resistant to deer browsing. Discover the latest information available about deer repellents and other proven methods of discouraging deer. Learn environmental and biological factors that influence deer and their choice of food.

An aesthetic combination of plants in a well-sited border is a pleasure in all seasons. In this class, learn where to put a flower bed; how to determine whether you have sun or shade; how to lay out the bed and prepare the soil, what to plant, and how to put it all together.

Perennials are a constant but ever-changing presence in the garden. The gardener’s challenge is to combine a variety of herbaceous plants and a few shrubs into a living collage. The first step is understanding nature’s geometry to provide structure in a perennial border. Learn the “checkerboard theory” of design and how to use strong plant shapes to create an effective four-season garden.

Gain the basic skills and knowledge needed for successful cultivation of perennials in a variety of garden settings. Topics include site selection, soil preparation, tools and planting techniques, maintenance practices, plant selection, landscape use, and design basics. Please bring lunch.