TALKS AND DEMONSTRATIONS, GARDEN TOURS AND WORKSHOPS

Bridget is an enthusiastic speaker and teacher and she loves to share her passion for all things floral. Her background is in horticulture, science and education. She has a Certificate in Horticulture, together with a B.Sc. and Ph.D. For ten years, she was a lecturer at the University of Edinburgh. Her scientific and teaching skills are combined with many years practical hands on experience working in local gardens. There is no doubt that Bridget has a wealth of knowledge to pass on and she regularly delivers talks and demonstrations at venues across the Scottish Borders.

The Moorhouse (BordersEcoFlowers HQ) lies in the Lammermuir Hills just north of Duns, about an hours drive from Edinburgh. Situated at a crossroads, the house was formerly a coaching inn for those crossing the inhospitable moor from Duns on the journey northwards to Dunbar. It also served as a welcome stopping point for drovers, moving their flocks of sheep from the secluded village of Abbey St Bathans, by the River Whiteadder, to Grantshouse station in the valley below. Overcoming the challenges of such an exposed location, Mike and Bridget have, over the last ten years, developed the The Moorhouse into a thriving cutting garden, growing a magnificent range of plants to produce fabulous cut flowers. Visitors are always welcome to attend workshops and tours to experience the seasonal delights of the garden and see first-hand what can grow at such a high altitude and northerly location.

Talks AND DEMONSTRATIONS

Bridget is an expert horticulturalist and loves to engage with local groups. She brings her interest in growing, cutting and arranging beautiful flowers and is available to give talks and demonstrations at venues across the Borders, East Lothian and Northumberland. Her lecturing experience and passion for horticulture combine perfectly to deliver talks and demonstrations that are inspirational, enthusiastic and packed with practical information and helpful tips.

Talks - Bridget offers three topics;

1. ‘Blooms up the Brae’, a lavishly illustrated talk explaining the story behind BordersEcoFlowers and why we grow flowers on top of a windy hill! Suitable for all groups.

2. ‘Ecoflowers - what, why and how?’. This presentation is aimed at horticultural and gardening groups, and draws on Bridgets’ extensive practical experience growing with organic methods.

3. ‘Floral styling - the sustainable way.’ A look at floral mechanics - plastic (oasis) free methods to styling flowers. Suitable for flower arranging clubs and church groups.

We are quite self-sufficient, as we have our own projector and large portable screen. In fact, we just need a couple of electric sockets and of course, an enthusiastic audience!

Demonstrations

A planet friendly ethos lies at the very heart of their business, and from the very beginning, Mike and Bridget set out to create plastic free flower arrangements. Rather than copying the stiff oasis-filled arrangements offered by many florists, the focus at BordersEcoFlowers is to offer more natural designs with eco-friendly mechanics so it is the flowers, their shapes, colours and textures, that are the stars of the show. Using natural and recyclable materials, Bridget loves to demonstrate how she creates seasonal floral designs - a simple jam-jar posy, a stunning hand-tied bouquet, a seasonal wreath or heart, or an oh-so-pretty flower crown. We find that demonstrations work better with smaller groups, thereby ensuring that everyone can see what is going on!

Bridget delivers talks and demonstrations to interested groups, clubs and societies throughout the year (including gardening clubs, floral art clubs, senior citizens groups, craft and wellbeing groups, environmental organisations and The Women’s Institute).

‘Our members were blown away by your presentation. So informative and inspirational with amazing photographs.’

From £50 (evening or daytime to suit, all year round)

Tours of the cutting garden

Welcome to The Moorhouse garden! Unlike many gardens that are open to the public, The Moorhouse is not an ornamental garden. Instead, it is designed more like a traditional market garden or allotment with flowers planted in rows for efficient harvesting. The garden changes week by week with each variety, in turn, coming into bloom and then going over. It is this progression through the year that gives a sense of seasonality - a vital ingredient of the floristry at BordersEcoFlowers. Bridget will take you behind the scenes and explain the horticultural practises that she uses to grow a huge variety of plants in a challenging hilltop site. Perfect for new and aspiring gardeners, she will explain how to enrich the soil, show you how to propagate plants and demonstrate how she uses the microclimates around the garden to grow long-stemmed flowers. Scissors ready! And of course you’ll be able to cut some stems to take home with you.

‘I’ve visited lots of gardens before, but this little jewel is quite different. So much practical information. Can’t wait to get started on my own patch’

£30 per person. Available from March to October, mornings or afternoons (one and a half to two hours). Ask for details of prices for groups.

workshops at the moorhouse

Workshops are held in the wee bothy at the top of the garden and include time in the garden to select and harvest suitable material ( weather permitting). We offer the following topics, but we can easily tailor a workshop to your specific requirements.

Make an Autumn Door Wreath

With the shortening days and cooler mornings, the garden slowly progresses into Autumn. In this workshop, you will experience the magic of the season and create a natural wreath, stunning for your front door. Bridget will introduce the range of botanical materials available, explain how to design your seasonal wreath, and demonstrate the mechanics of creating a stunning display. We will tour the garden to show you the jewel like colours of the cooler months; glorious asters, graceful schizostylis and brilliant golden rod. We will explore a collection of ephemeral grasses, the intricate seed-heads of carex and malope, shiny cotoneaster and hawthorn berries and the foliages of beech and viburnum. Taken all together, it is these ingredients that create our Autumn palette - an amazing collection of natural, decorations ripe for harvest. Suitable for those with no floristry experience, Bridget will guide you carefully through each stage of the creative process. You will take home an Autumn wreath ready to hang on your front door, a wreath that truly reflects the elements of a Borders garden, a wreath for all to admire!

‘As a flower arranger, I used to think that my garden finished in September, but now I see that it has so much more to offer in Autumn.’

£50 per person. Available October and November, mornings or afternoons ( approximately two and a half hours).

Create a Dried Flower Heart

It is in the months of October and November that we celebrate the beauty of dried flowers. Throughout the growing season, Mike and Bridget harvest baskets of flowers and carefully dry them to preserve their delicate shapes and natural textures. In the autumnal months, Bridget weaves these beautiful botanical specimens onto wire frames to create truly unique dried flower hearts, a natural reminder of Summers past. You will prepare a straw base, and then delve into our collection of dried material to design and create your own masterpiece to take home with you. Bridget will explain how we grow, harvest and dry a whole range of material from the tiniest bunny tails to the tallest majestic teasels.

‘Really enjoyed this hands-on experience. I didn’t realise how many different kinds of flowers could be dried’

£50 per person. Available October and November, mornings or afternoons ( approximately two and a half hours).

Make an eco-friendly hand-tied bouquet

To really learn about how to arrange flowers, we believe it is useful to actually observe the plants growing in the garden. Our floral scissors are used not just to snip the ends off a bunch of stems. We use our scissors to go into the garden and actually cut the very stems that we use to create a super fresh bouquet ! No air-miles, no road miles even - just a few yards from garden to workshop. Over the years, Bridget has amassed an amazing collection of plants in the cutting garden and she is an expert on growing these particular varieties for floristry. She will show you how to select, cut and prepare the stems, and how to combine them to make your own bouquet; a bouquet to enjoy in your own home or to give as a special and very personal gift. We use the ‘hand-tied’ technique to make our bouquets. This means that the stems are held together by a length of jute twine, finished with hessian ribbon and wrapped in tissue paper with a kraft paper sleeve - no plastics here! Your bouquet will be seasonal, scented and sustainable.

In recent years, there has been much discussion about the benefits of our relationship with the natural world. And it is now scientifically proven that having nature around us as part of our daily lives promotes a sense of wellbeing and inner calm. For this reason, once made, we want you to enjoy your bouquet for as long as possible. Bridget will give you her tips for making the blooms last as long as possible. Furthermore, you may even be able to press or dry some elements of the bouquet to give you a lasting memory of your visit to The Moorhouse!

‘I gave the bouquet to my mum for her 80th birthday. She was thrilled and said it was like having a Borders garden in her living room!’

£50 per person. Available May to October, mornings or afternoons (approximately two and a half hours).

Make a trio of posies

In the Moorhouse cutting garden, we grow lots of very delicate short stemmed flowers especially in the sping time ( snowdrops, aconites, scillas and primulas), but also during the warmer months (Lily-of-the-Valley and old-fashioned garden pinks). These beautiful flowers are best appreciated in small posies, reminiscent of tussie-mussies often carried by ladies in Victorian times. In this workshop, we will cut stems from the garden, and design and create a trio of beautiful posies ideal for a gift or a table centre in your own home.

‘A great way to bring nature indoors and appreciate the smaller flowers in my garden’

£50 per person. Available March to September, mornings or afternoons (approximately two and a half hours).

Bespoke - a topic of your choice

Growing and arranging flowers is a large topic covering a multitude of different skills. We can design workshops specifically for you on many aspects of horticulture and floral design. So if you want to know about sustainability in the garden, extending the growing season or how to make a flower crown, just let us know and we’ll tailor a workshop specifically for you.

‘We spent a fascinating morning collecting all types of seed heads, and separating out the seeds all ready to sow in Spring. Can’t wait to see them grow.’

Contact Us

To find out more about our talks, demonstrations, garden tours and workshops please fill out the form below.