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Learn with Dr Rachel Petheram

The Scented Garden

Learn the benefits of creating a fragrant garden by taking the The Scented Garden course on Learning With Experts.

Course overview

In this lecture you will understand the science behind scent, and the effect it has on the brain. Scent has a hugely beneficial effect on our mood and behavior, but it is difficult to classify and describe scent. In this session we will learn about how our sense of smell works, how we interpret scent and factors that affect our response and the beneficial effects that scent has on our physiology.

Meet Dr Rachel Petheram

My name is Dr Rachel Petheram. I am an artisan florist, a gardener and a teacher. My flower story started in 2002 when I grew some of my own wedding flowers. As a full time lecturer in animal nutrition becoming a florist was the last thing on my mind! However, one thing led to another - a bit of faffing, experimenting and flowering on the side -and then Catkin was launched in 2006. All these years later it's hard to imagine that I once had a life without flowers. Now I grow many of my own flowers in the walled kitchen garden of Doddington Hall in Lincolnshire and am an ardent champion of British grown flowers. I was included in the Independent newspaper's list of top 50 florists, I am a BBC Lincolnshire garden expert and I was featured in the first series of the BBC's Great British Garden Revival. I have been featured in numerous national garden and lifestyle publications such as Radio 4. As one of the original grower/florists who were part of the revival of using British grown flowers in floristry, I use my extensive experience to run many courses on floristry and gardening at Doddington Hall, RHS Harlow Carr, Welbeck School of Artsian Food, the Chelsea Physic Garden and with MyGardenSchool. So, whether you are looking for beautiful, seasonal wedding flowers or you are a florist looking for some inspiration or someone who is just looking for a fabulous course then it would be my privilege to contribute to your own flower story. Flowers are only half my story though. I also love herbs. Unassuming herbs are pretty fabulous I think and over the next few years, you're sure to see growing herbs increase in popularity. As a scientist, they blow me away. As a gardener I am amazed at how easy they are to grow and how multifunctional they are. As someone who loves food they taste great. They are a true example of flower power in my opinion. I look forward to getting to know you in class.

Course description

Expert florist, flower grower at Doddington Hall and RHS flower teacher Dr Rachel Petheram teaches you how to choose flowers and plants for fragrance and how to design a scented garden.

You'll learn how to grow flowers and plants for scent - whether scenting your garden, using plant fragrance for psychological benefit or for cut flowers and flower arrangements.

She'll show you how to select and combine scented flowers, flowering shrubs and plants, and which plants to choose for fragrance in your garden space during day and night.

Scent has a powerful effect on emotion and mood and a fragrant garden can be a means to health, wellbeing and pleasure. This course covers how we perceive scent and how it can directly affect not only our mood but our physiology.

This knowledge can then can be used to good effect in our gardens. If we want somewhere to relax and de-stress or if we want an outside work space where we can be refreshed and invigorated, then there is a plant to fill the fragrance brief. However, we often miss the effect of fragrance in our gardens because it is such a fleeting, ethereal thing so we need to make sure that our gardens are designed to maximise the beneficial effects of this lovely sense.

You are encouraged through the suggested assignments to design your own fragrant space tailored to your own requirements and to share your experience along the way.

You'll learn:
  • the science and benefits of scent
  • how scent works
  • designing a scent garden
  • developing garden structures to maximise scent
  • choosing scented plants and flowers
  • propagating plants
  • keeping your plants and flowers healthy

    • Suitable for gardeners and florists of all abilities.

    Time to complete this scented garden course:

    Every student is different but in general we think the whole course will take around 14 hours 40 minutes to complete including:

  • Video lessons: 2 hours 40 minutes in total
  • Course notes: 30 minutes per lesson
  • Assignment: at least 2 hours per lesson
  • Interactive classroom time: 15 minutes per lesson
  • tutor feedback review (Expert level): 15 minutes per lesson
    • The course includes:
  • On-demand video lessons - presented by Dr Rachel Petheram
  • lifetime access to the video, notes and interactive class
  • flexible classes - join and learn when and where you like
  • downloadable lesson notes
  • practical (optional) garden design and fragrance based projects
  • access on your mobile, PC, Mac or laptop
  • small interactive online classroom chat online to students from around the world
    • Ready to get started?

    Just add the course to your basket above - choose the 'Expert' option for personal feedback from Rachel on your plant choices and garden plans.

    Any questions? Contact us by clicking on the orange speech symbol - we'd love to hear from you.