Garden tours and experiences

April to October 2025

For the first time, Downing College is opening up its 20-acre site to gardening enthusiasts. Discover the gardens, meet the award-winning team and learn some new skills in a beautiful College environment. This spring and summer we are offering the following tours and courses.

All tours and workshops are for those aged 16 years and over only.

Exclusive gardens tour

Guided by Jack Sharp, Head Gardener, you will stroll through the College grounds, including some areas which are not normally open to the public, such as Fellows’, Master’s and Rose gardens. Maximum 20 people on each tour.

Discover Downing’s garden history
Learn about the established trees
See how Jack’s team maintain and enhance the site
Ask questions and chat over refreshments

Propagation workshop with exclusive tour and lunch

A spring propagation workshop for amateur gardeners. Hands on learning about how to propagate your plants for the summer season from our experienced gardening team, with an exclusive guided tour from Downing’s Head Gardener Jack Sharp and ‘behind the scenes’ access to Downing’s propagation greenhouses. Maximum 10 people per date.

Compost blending, propagators and containers
Seed sowing, focusing on annuals, vegetables and wildflowers
Seedling care
Softwood cuttings
Potting on plants

Horticulture experience days

A fantastic opportunity to find out more about how a large scale garden is maintained alongside our experienced and friendly team. This course is especially useful if you are thinking about retraining as a horticulture professional. Maximum two people per date. Work with us for a day and get stuck into a range of tasks across the twenty-acre site:

Tend herbaceous borders, take part in lawn care schedules and help with plant propagation in the greenhouses
Learn about how the seasons influence different tasks
See best practices in action and use horticulture equipment
Hear how some of our gardening team made a career change

Garden tours and experiences