New York Botanical Garden Classes at the Nature Center

Stay tuned for more information on upcoming classes and lectures from the New York Botanical Gardens this fall!

Fall is the best time to plant hardy spring-flowering bulbs. Explore innovative bulb combinations and bulbs that look great with flowering and evergreen shrubs, perennials, and trees. Learn what to do after the bulbs have flowered and gone dormant, and discuss the question of which perennials and annuals to plant as companions. Please bring lunch.

112GAR256
Melanie Menachem-Riggs

Drawing I is the foundation course of the Botanical Art and Illustration Certificate Program because it teaches the specific techniques for drawing accurately. Learn the professional standards of form, measuring, foreshortening, and perspective. This class is a prerequisite for all BIL certificate classes.

Classroom Hours: 18

Kathie Miranda
112BIL301 Section C

Explore the basic principles underlying good gardening, including the structure and physiological processes of plants and their relationships to the environments in which they grow. You learn not only what to do, but why! Topics include soils and their improvement, seed sowing, vegetative propagation, planting, pruning, watering, weeding, mulching, shading, ventilation, and disease and pest control.

Classroom Hours: 12

112GAR301 Section C
Tolly Beck

In Drawing II students apply the skills and techniques learned in Drawing I to the subject of plants. Learn to accurately delineate each part of the plant: stems, leaves, branches, and root systems. It is recommended that students take Drawing II immediately following Drawing I.

Kathie Miranda
112BIL302 Section C

Prerequisite: Drawing I - BIL 301.
Classroom Hours: 15

Learn the elements of pruning evergreens, deciduous trees and shrubs and how to maintain the woody plants in your garden. Bring your pruners for a discussion of proper tool selection and maintenance. The afternoon is spent outside analyzing pruning techniques. Class is held rain or shine. Please dress for the weather and bring lunch.

David Fedczuk
112GAR236 Section A

Do you want to redesign your garden? Does your existing landscape have a collection of beautiful plants that lack a cohesive design style? Join us for a look at some of the best techniques used by designers to coordinate a landscape design. Discuss imaginative ways in which you can create a new design for an existing landscape. Please bring lunch.

Melanie Menachem - Riggs
112GAR181

Understand how the nature of soil affects the overall productivity of plants. Theory is kept to a minimum and practical applications are stressed. Topics include soil formation, physical properties of soil, soil-water relationships, and management techniques, such as irrigation, drainage, and fertilization. Basic soil sampling, pH, and nutrient testing are introduced.

David Bulpitt
113GAR302 Section A

Please note that this course is not the same as Soil Science I - HRT 301.
Classroom Hours: 12

The focus of this course is on color application and color theory. Colored pencil line and tone can be applied to look like either drawing or painting, a versatility that makes it an enjoyable medium for creating botanical artwork. Learn how to master a variety of techniques, including impressed line, sgraffito, burnishing, and tonal construction, as well as how to layer colors to achieve different hues and color densities.

Lauretta Jones
113BIL415 Section C

Prerequisite: Drawing II - BIL 302.
Classroom Hours: 15

Improve the vitality of small ornamental trees, evergreens, and deciduous shrubs, as well as the value and appearance of your property, by learning techniques for pruning. Discover when and how to rejuvenate old plantings, encourage new vigorous growth, and keep plants under control. Lectures are enhanced with slides, demonstrations, and hands-on experience outdoors. Please bring lunch for classes meeting all day. Dress for the weather.
Classroom Hours: 12

David Fedczuk
113GAR420 Section A

Illustrating with colored pencil combines the appeal of drawing with the immediacy of color application. It allows overlays of transparent hues, which create complex color dimensions that can express the subtle mingling of colors in nature. Learn to observe color hues, color temperatures, and color values of fresh flowers and other subjects in color studies and compositions.

Lauretta Jones
113BIL416 Section C

Prerequisite: Colored Pencil I - BIL 415.
Classroom Hours: 18

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.

Michael Ruggiero
113GAR231 Section B

Hands-on is the best way to learn any physical skill, and fruit tree pruning is no exception. Pruning techniques, with an emphasis on fruit production, are discussed and demonstrated on-site. Try some supervised pruning yourself. Learn about corrective pruning of neglected and poorly managed trees and techniques for effective training of young trees. Several kinds of fruit trees are discussed. Please dress for the weather and wear eye protection. Please bring lunch.

Steven McKay
113GAR905 Section A

The kitchen garden, or potager, is back. You can grow more than just tomatoes this year. Learn the difference between cool and warm season crops and methods of growing from seed: selecting, germinating, and transplanting. Discuss techniques of raised bed gardening and vegetable gardening to use in your own garden. Learn about proper planting and maintenance, which lead to a bountiful harvest. Please bring lunch.

(Cost of class includes $18 Materials Fee)

Melanie Menachem-Riggs
113GAR918 Section B

Raised beds are used to grow more vegetables, herbs, or ornamentals in a given area with less effort. They are also the best method for overcoming difficult situations (wet soil, limited space and sun). Raised beds are ideal in many therapeutic settings, because they bring the plants up to the patients. Methods of creating raised beds and their aesthetic considerations are discussed.

James Carr
113GAR280 Section B