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Garden Classes Chicago

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Learn how to grow your own vegetables and maintain a beautiful garden in the city of Chicago with classes on urban gardening, container gardening, and sustainable gardening practices.

26 classes have spots left

Introduction to Sustainability

Chicago Botanic Garden @ 1000 Lake Cook Road, Chicago, IL

Learn how environmental, economic, and social sustainability affect the green industry. Discussions will cover the concepts of sustainability and the role horticulture can play in enhancing the sustainable movement.  Note: This class is part of the Introduction to Sustainability series The School’s CEUs=0.3 OPC elective

(122) All levels 18 and older
No upcoming schedules

Personalized Natural Perfume Workshop

Chicago Botanic Garden @ 1000 Lake Cook Road, Chicago, IL

Create a personalized natural aroma at this beginner-level workshop while learning about plant origins and distillation. Sample fragrant oils will be provided from around the world, including American clary sage, Egyptian jasmine, French lavender, Italian bergamot, and more. Choose a unique combination of oils for the instructor to blend into your own signature scent. Fee includes .25 ounce bottle of custom natural perfume to take home.

(122) Beginner 18 and older
No upcoming schedules

Soil

Chicago Botanic Garden @ 1000 Lake Cook Road, Chicago, IL

Soil is a building block of sustainable gardening. Topics include composting, recycling garden waste, earthworms, beneficial microbes, bioremediation, organic/local compost and soil amendments and container gardening. Note: This class is part of the Introduction to Sustainability series The School’s CEUs=0.3 OPC elective

(122) All levels 18 and older
No upcoming schedules
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Positive Economic Impacts for our Landscape

Chicago Botanic Garden @ 1000 Lake Cook Road Annex 2, Chicago, IL

Learn how sustainable practices can help your wallet with a reduced water bill and less equipment to own. Green roofs extend the life of roofing materials and reduce heating/cooling costs with plants, and the reuse of plants and materials on-site reduces unnecessary expenses. Note: This class is part of the Introduction to Sustainability series The School’s CEUs=0.3 OPC elective

(122) All levels 18 and older
No upcoming schedules

Social Impacts of Sustainability

Chicago Botanic Garden @ 1000 Lake Cook Rd, Chicago, IL

Simple ideas can have big impact. Topics will include the reduced crime in tree-lined areas; cleaner air and reduced storm water runoff; planted areas filtering waste that enters the soil, reducing groundwater pollution; and community movements for green spaces and habitat development.  Note: This class is part of the Introduction to Sustainability series The School’s CEUs=0.3 OPC elective

(122) All levels 18 and older
No upcoming schedules

Painting Your Garden with Plants: Sun and Shade

Chicago Botanic Garden @ 1000 Lake Cook Road, Chicago, IL

Composed of 2 classes: I. Designing the Sunny Border, 10 a.m. – noon This class will discuss how to artfully combine plants with an emphasis on the use of color, texture, and form. II. Designing the Shade Garden, 1 – 3 p.m. This class provides solutions and ideas for artful plantings that can help you create effective combinations that consider color, texture, and form.

(122) All levels 18 and older
No upcoming schedules
$66

2 sessions

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Best New Annuals for 2019

Chicago Botanic Garden @ 1000 Lake Cook Road, Chicago, IL

It’s going to be a banner year for annuals. This course presents many new cultivars, along with several wonderful yet underutilized species for both container and in-ground plantings in sun and shade. Focus on what makes each unique and ideal, including morphological characteristics and garden performance. Other topics include cultural requirements, design and combinations, and sources.  The School’s CEUs=3 hours

(122) All levels 18 and older
No upcoming schedules

Summer Preserving - Tomato Canning

Peterson Garden Project @ 5917 N Broadway St, Chicago, IL

It's harvest time, and nothing beats a home-grown tomato fresh off the vine! But when you have more fresh tomatoes than you can eat, it helps to know how to preserve them so you can enjoy them in the winter months.  In this hands-on class, we'll cover the basics of boiling-water-bath canning, including information on food safety and recommendations on how to store your newly canned goods. You'll make and can your own jar of tomato sauce during...

(10) All levels 18 and older
No upcoming schedules

Summer Preserving – DIY Giardiniera Pickles

Peterson Garden Project @ 5917 N Broadway St, Chicago, IL

Giardinera, that ubiquitous Chicago condiment, is a perfect pickle to take advantage of the best peak-summer produce. Come learn how easy it is to make your own, whether you like it spicy or mild, topping an Italian beef or as part of a picnic pickle platter. Join us for this hands-on class designed for the novice canner as well as the seasoned pickler looking for inspiration. We’ll discuss the difference between “quick” pickles and canned...

(10) All levels 18 and older
No upcoming schedules

How to Raise Butterflies at Home

Chicago Botanic Garden @ 1000 Lake Cook Road, Chicago, IL

Observing the transformation of a tiny caterpillar into a beautiful adult butterfly is miraculous. Learn methods of sheltering larvae and pupae in a safe, protective environment to ensure they escape predation and disease, maturing into adulthood. You will build a pupae/larvae rearing box to raise butterflies at home.

(122) All levels 18 and older
No upcoming schedules

Poisonous Mushrooms of Illinois

Chicago Botanic Garden @ 1000 Lake Cook Road, Chicago, IL

Along with the many edible mushrooms dotting our Illinois landscape, our woodlands, flood plains, ravine communities, and even our own backyards often contain poisonous mushrooms. Get introduced not only to mushrooms that can make you very sick and those that are deadly, but also to the various toxins these mushrooms contain.

(122) All levels 18 and older
No upcoming schedules

Permaculture Plants – Vines, Groundcovers, Fungi

The Resiliency Institute @ 10S404 Knoch Knolls Rd, Naperville, IL

Finally a class to learn about the permaculture plants used in edible forest gardens and food forests. Begin to integrate these plants into your own garden. You’ll explore the lower layers of a permaculture forest garden – fungi, groundcovers, and vines! Permaculture edible forest gardens typically consist of at least seven layers – fungi, groundcovers, vines, herbaceous, shrubs, sub-canopy trees, canopy trees. Over the course of four months,...

(2) All levels 16 and older
No upcoming schedules
$95

3 sessions

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Summer-Blooming Perennials

Chicago Botanic Garden

Summer means sunny blue skies, warm breezes, and flowers—lots of flowers. Join Richard Hawke, plant evaluation manager, for a discussion of some of the best summer-blooming perennials for your garden. He will highlight a variety of perennial favorites—old and new—from more than 30 years of trials at the Chicago Botanic Garden. We will look at reliable perennials for sunny and shady gardens, and will discuss their growing needs and maintena...

(122) All levels 18 and older
No upcoming schedules

Backstage Bonsai Tour and Sake Tasting

Chicago Botanic Garden @ 1000 Lake Cook Road, Glencoe, IL

Enjoy samplings of different varieties of sake and a behind-the-scenes tour of the Bonsai Studio on the south end of the Garden. Explore our two outdoor growing spaces and where we overwinter our trees in our three climate-controlled areas.  Get a sneak peek at nearly 300 trees and our new facility.  Alcohol will be served in this class; participants must be 21 years of age or older.

(122) All levels 21 and older
No upcoming schedules

Wintering Bees in Northern Illinois

Chicago Botanic Garden

Beehives can be a challenge to overwinter, especially in northern climates. Learn care tips that will help you maintain a healthy bee colony year-round.

(122) All levels 18 and older
No upcoming schedules

Peonies Rediscovered

Chicago Botanic Garden @ 1000 Lake Cook Road, Chicago, IL

Rediscover this wonderful, easy-to-grow perennial with the fragrance that takes you back to grandma’s garden. Discuss and demonstrate division, proper planting depth, and other cultural techniques for herbaceous and tree peonies.  You will receive a bare root peony for your garden.

(122) All levels 18 and older
No upcoming schedules

Columnar Trees for Small Landscapes

Chicago Botanic Garden @ 1000 Lake Cook Road, Chicago, IL

As landscapes become smaller, the need for large shade is reduced. Most species of trees have cultivars that were developed to be narrow to meet the needs of the small-space garden.  Learn what characteristics make this group of specialized trees so popular and how to include them in your next design.  Note: This class will be taught online via Zoom.  All registrations must be submitted online two days before your class starts. ...

(122) All levels 18 and older
No upcoming schedules

Dwarf Plants for Small Spaces

Chicago Botanic Garden

With smaller spaces for landscape plants, there is a need for smaller plants. This class will cover both conifers and deciduous plants that are suitable for small landscapes and rooftop gardens.  Note: This class will be taught online via Zoom.  All registrations must be submitted online two days before your class starts.  Registered students will receive login instructions one day in advance.

(122) All levels 18 and older
No upcoming schedules

Holiday Dish Gardens

Chicago Botanic Garden @ 1000 Lake Cook Road, Chicago, IL

Dish gardens, miniature landscapes grown in shallow containers, serve as living centerpieces throughout the year. Learn about containers, materials, proper plant selection, seasonal color schemes, and incorporating different themes into dish gardens. Then, create your own beautiful, functional dish garden to take home.  Please bring an apron, gloves, trowel, and hand pruners.

(122) Advanced 18 and older
No upcoming schedules

Winter Tree and Shrub Trimming

Chicago Botanic Garden

It is fun and simple to trim your trees and shrubs when their leaves are absent. Through demonstrations, discussion, and hands-on experience, learn the basics of tree physiology and how it is affected by trimming, proper practices of trimming during winter months, and the advantages of winter trimming for maximum health and plant performance.  Please dress for the weather. 

(122) Beginner 18 and older
No upcoming schedules
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