Weave a willow Deer with Dragon Willow’s Leilah Vyner. All materials are supplied – just bring yourself and have fun.

Have a look at Leilah’s website for more information about Willow Weaving.

Fee: £90 Includes lunch and materials. Please confirm any dietary requirements on booking.

Location: The Yorkshire Arboretum Peter Sowerby Building

To book please email visit@yorkshirearboretum.org or phone 01653 648598.

Indoor and outdoor activities to explore the arboretum and learn about the plants and creatures that we share it with. There will be a focus on owls and a seasonal autumn theme. There will be a chance to experience crafts, plus walking, collecting, and exploring the grounds. There will be hands on activities, so bring a bag to take your creations home with you. We recommend bringing a packed lunch or plan to eat at the Arboretum Café.

Our Nature Rangers Day is suitable for children aged five to eleven.

£15 per child. Children must be accompanied by an adult who can attend free of charge. Please bring outdoor clothes and footwear

Booking essential by email on visit@yorkshirearboretum.org or by calling 01653 648598

CANCELLED DUE TO BAD WEATHER

Join our Members' tour of this glorious garden to see the autumn colours. Booking required. Join our tour guide in the Castle Howard Courtyard by 10:20am

Booking Information

A tour is also taking place on Tuesday 22nd October 2024

This event is for Yorkshire Arboretum Members only. Booking is essential. Join our guide in the Castle Howard courtyard by 10:20am for a 10:30am start.

Bookings can be made either online (below), email visit@yorkshirearboretum.org , over the phone 01653 648598 or at the visitor centre desk.

Please note, NO DOGS are allowed on this walk.

Become a Member

If you’re not already a member of the Yorkshire Arboretum, please visit our Membership section to find out more.

Join our director, John Grimshaw for an informal walk in the arboretum.

You are guaranteed to discover something new and experience Autumn in the arboretum like never before!

All welcome - no prior knowledge required. Booking is essential. THIS EVENT IS NOW FULL.

The event costs £10 to attend.

Please book your place via email on visit@yorkshirearboretum.org or phone 01653 648598

Join in the hunt for fungi around the arboretum, see what you can find and have your specimens identified by our expert Malcolm Greaves.

20 people maximum, £20 per person

Booking essential: email visit@yorkshirearbortum.org or phone 01653 648598

Autumn Trees Watercolour Workshop - with Ione Harrison FULL

A watercolour workshop to celebrate the wonderful colours of Autumn trees in the Arboretum. This workshop is suitable for all levels, from beginners to anyone wanting to explore new techniques. No drawing needed. You’ll create two landscapes to take home with you.

You will use leaves and plants from the Arboretum to create an intuitive painting that plays with colour and texture. In your second painting, we’ll explore some fun and easy to use techniques (cling film, spatter, salt and wax resist) as well as practising more traditional washes and wet in wet painting. The emphasis throughout is on play and exploration.

For any questions, please email ioneharrisonart@gmail.com.  

£90 per person. What's included: All materials needed for the day, refreshments and a light lunch. 

What to bring: an open mind, an apron - or wear old clothes - and something in which to take your lovely paintings home. 

 Your tutor: Ione is an landscape artist and tutor with over 30 years' teaching experience. Her aim in her teaching is for you to feel supported to explore your own creativity, while developing confidence in the wonderful medium of watercolour.

 Booking essential, The course is currently fully booked. If you wish to be added to a waiting list please contact us at visit@yorkshirearboretum.org or phone 01653 648598. Please indicate any dietary requirements when booking your place.

A chance to see John Grimshaw’s garden at its autumnal peak, during the month when it will feature in the RHS magazine The Garden. Expect a colourful mass of tall perennials in a relaxed rural setting, as well as a display of potted plants, a fern border and many treasures throughout. Refreshments available, and plants will be for sale. No dogs please.

To book please contact the reception at the arboretum on visit@yorkshirearboretum.org. or on 01653 648598. £7.50 per person payable in cash on the day.

Life on Earth would not exist without fungi!

Without the recycling activities of fungi, the world’s ecosystems would soon run out of nutrients. Plants without their fungal mycorrhizal partners to deliver water and nutrients, would not be able to grow and food would quickly become depleted.

Some fungi are also pathogens - of plants, humans, frogs, bats, soft coral, bees - and in certain cases are causing widespread decline of animal or plant populations.  In humans, certain fungi can cause invasive infections which contribute to high death rates in individuals suffering from AIDS and cancer, and others can cause irritating infections of our skin. They can even poison us.

​However, few fungi actually cause a nuisance to the healthy individual.  And, without fungi, animals and plants could not - and would not - exist.

The Yorkshire Arboretum is joining in with British Mycological Society celebrations for UK Fungi Day with a range of interactive learning and activities in the Tree Health Centre. Learn about what foods in your cupboard wouldn’t exist without fungi, take a look at fungi under the microscope, find out about fungal pathogens we are concerned about and discover how fungal networks support our trees in the arboretum.

Additional charged and bookable activities:

Fungal Foray - 10am

Join in the hunt for fungi around the arboretum, see what you can find and have your specimens identified by our expert Malcolm Greaves.

20 people maximum, £20 per person

Tree fungal disease tour - 2pm

Join Dr Charles Lane, Consultant Plant Pathologist, for a tour of the trees in the arboretum and learn more about those affected by fungal diseases.

20 people maximum, £5 per person

Booking essential: email visit@yorkshirearbortum.org or phone 01653 648598

Take an evening walk with our moth experts Alastair Fitter and Terry Crawford.

£10 per person,

20 people maximum

Booking essential: email visit@yorkshirearbortum.org or phone 01653 648598

We welcome Castle Howard members to the arboretum on the is day.

Free of charge when presenting your membership card on arrival.

Please book in below.

Full day course including buffet lunch.

About

To look after trees well you need to know when there is something wrong with them so you can take appropriate action. However, as there are only so many symptoms a tree can express, it’s not always easy to figure out what might be wrong. On this course you will learn how to methodically work through all the possibilities, to accurately record a tree’s symptoms and surrounds and categorise what type of problem you are most likely observing. You will also learn when to take samples, where to send them for testing and what to do if you find something problematic.

Aims

• Following the course, learners will be able to survey trees for the presence of pests and/or diseases.

• Categorise the type of problem they are most likely observing.

• Create a record of the assessment and determine next steps.

• Take a sample for laboratory analysis.

• Report pests and diseases with Tree Alert

Objectives

• Portray the environmental, economic and social impact of tree pests.

• Discuss the difference between physiological and pathological issues.

• Work through the observation of non-infectious and infectious tree disease methodically using case studies in the arboretum collection.

• Observe how to take an appropriate sample for laboratory analysis.

• Talk through the use of tree alert to accurately report pests and diseases.

• Determine next steps and where to go for more information.

Outcomes

By the end of the workshop, you will be able to:

• Provide examples of how pests might impact upon economic, social, environmental and health and safety aspects in and around your workplace.

• Differentiate between physiological and pathological problems.

• Categorise types of tree disease.

• Systematically observe a tree’s surroundings and symptoms to complete a survey form and/or compile a Tree Alert report.

• Take samples for analysis.

• Research which tree pests are important to your work using the UK Plant Health Risk Register and Pest Risk Analysis.

• Take appropriate action where necessary.

Audience

People working in countryside management, gardening, plant nursery trade, nature conservation, landscape design, utility contracts, forestry, management of public and private woodland resource, conservation and tree health volunteers, interested amateurs, career developers.

Take a dusk walk in the arboretum armed with a bat detector and accompanied by expert Dr Barry Wright. The noises we pick up will help us identify the species that we find.

Please wear suitable clothing and bring a torch!

£20 per person

To book please either email: visit@yorkshirearboretum.org or phone 01653 648598

Look for and identify mini beasts with our education team. Identify creatures that hide under logs and stones.

Three sessions, each lasting about an hour from 12noon, 1pm and 2pm

No booking required. Free entry for children. Normal admission applies for others. Children to be accompanied by an adult. Please bring outdoor clothes and footwear.

Burnby Hall Gardens & Yorkshire Arboretum Reciprocal Open Days for Members

We have partnered with Burnby Hall Gardens to host reciprocal open days for members of each garden, who are welcome to visit respective gardens free of charge on presentation of a valid membership card.

Follow our resident Dragonfly Expert Keith Gittens as he guides you around the arboretum to learn about the 16 species of Dragonfly and Damselfly that occur in The Yorkshire Arboretum.

You may wish to bring your own binoculars if you have them and camera as there will be plenty of photo opportunities!

Ticket Price: £20

To book please email: visit@yorkshirearboretum.org or phone 01653 648598

Join our director, John Grimshaw for an informal walk in the arboretum.

You are guaranteed to discover something new and experience Summer in the arboretum like never before!

All welcome - no prior knowledge required.

The event costs £10 to attend. Please book your place via email on visit@yorkshirearboretum.org or phone 01653 648 598

Indoor and outdoor activities to explore the arboretum and learn about the plants and creatures that we share it with. There will be a chance to experience planting and crafts, plus walking, collecting, and exploring the grounds for minibeasts. There will be hands on activities, so bring a bag to take your creations home with you. We recommend bringing a packed lunch or plan to eat at the Arboretum Café.

Our Nature Rangers Day is suitable for children aged five to eleven.

£15 per child. Children must be accompanied by an adult who can attend free of charge. Please bring outdoor clothes and footwear

Booking essential by email on visit@yorkshirearboretum.org or by calling 01653 648598

Come and dip for invertebrates in our lake with our education team. Look for the creatures that hide in the water plants at the edge of our lake.

Sessions at 10am, 11am and 12 noon lasting about 1 hour.

No booking required. Free entry for children. Normal admission applies for others. Children to be accompanied by an adult. Please bring outdoor clothes and footwear.

As part of our Natural History series of walks around the arboretum, join Dr John Grimshaw for a wildflower meadow walk in the Arboretum wildflower meadows. Learn about some of the plants growing in our meadows, and how they were created and managed.

20 people max.

£20 per person

Booking essential: email visit@yorkshirearbortum.org or phone 01653 648598

Half Day Course

About

Tree pests and diseases have never been so great a problem as they are now, but the issues are often poorly understood. With a broad range of problems affecting trees, it can be difficult to know where to begin as an amateur or entry-level professional. This course will summarise tree health and biosecurity issues, give you the opportunity to see pests and diseases on trees in the arboretum and get you off to the right start with an introduction to good biosecurity practice.

Aims

Biosecurity basics is a half day course for people who want to know more about pathways of introduction and spread of pests and diseases in plants and trees, along with biosecurity measures to reduce risk. Teaching in the classroom and a short tour will be used to familiarise learners with some high-profile tree pests and basic categories of problems that affect tree health.

Objectives

• Portray the environmental, economic and social impact of tree pests at a national level using introductory examples of priority tree pests.

• Provide a brief overview of the UK Plant Health Service.

• Combine introductory lecture and a short tree health tour of the arboretum to raise awareness of frequently found and priority pests and disease.

• Talk learners through the minimum information to collect to report tree disease.

• Highlight the importance of reporting concerns accurately, and where to report them.

• Introduce simple biosecurity measures that may limit the spread of tree diseases.

Outcomes

By the end of the workshop, you will be able to:

• Justify why it is important to limit the spread of tree pests.

• Outline who is responsible for the management of tree pests in the UK.

• Begin to categorise and recognise basic types of tree problems.

• Give named examples of public priority tree pests and describe the common symptoms that are useful to identify them.

• Use recommended resources to continue developing knowledge about tree pests.

• Limit the spread of harmful organisms by practicing basic biosecurity.

Audience

People working in landscape or countryside management, gardening, plant nursery trade, nature conservation volunteers, landscape design, utility contracts, forestry, management of public and private woodland resource, or as lead conservation volunteers and tree health volunteers. 

Join us to explore and identify the many different species of butterfly in the arboretum. This is an amazing opportunity to find butterflies in their natural habitat, with expert guidance.

For booking please email visit@yorkshirearboretum.org or phone 01653 648598

£20 per person

Booking Essential

Join us for a dawn chorus walk around the arboretum with expert Andy Chapman. Hear and spot the arboretum’s songbirds, then repair to the Visitor Centre for a complimentary breakfast roll and hot drink.

PLEASE ENSURE YOU BOOK BY SATURDAY 1ST JUNE. Thank you.

Booking Information

Join us for a beautiful dawn chorus walk around the arboretum with expert Andy Chapman. Hear and spot the arboretum’s songbirds. Finishing with a delicious breakfast roll and hot drink.

£25 per person

Booking essential: email visit@yorkshirearbortum.org or phone 01653 648598

Full day course including buffet lunch.

PLEASE NOTE THIS COURSE IS NOW FULLY BOOKED.

About

To look after trees well you need to know when there is something wrong with them so you can take appropriate action. However, as there are only so many symptoms a tree can express, it’s not always easy to figure out what might be wrong. On this course you will learn how to methodically work through all the possibilities, to accurately record a tree’s symptoms and surrounds and categorise what type of problem you are most likely observing. You will also learn when to take samples, where to send them for testing and what to do if you find something problematic.

Aims

• Following the course, learners will be able to survey trees for the presence of pests and/or diseases.

• Categorise the type of problem they are most likely observing.

• Create a record of the assessment and determine next steps.

• Take a sample for laboratory analysis.

• Report pests and diseases with Tree Alert

Objectives

• Portray the environmental, economic and social impact of tree pests.

• Discuss the difference between physiological and pathological issues.

• Work through the observation of non-infectious and infectious tree disease methodically using case studies in the arboretum collection.

• Observe how to take an appropriate sample for laboratory analysis.

• Talk through the use of tree alert to accurately report pests and diseases.

• Determine next steps and where to go for more information.

Outcomes

By the end of the workshop, you will be able to:

• Provide examples of how pests might impact upon economic, social, environmental and health and safety aspects in and around your workplace.

• Differentiate between physiological and pathological problems.

• Categorize types of tree disease.

• Systematically observe a tree’s surroundings and symptoms to complete a survey form and/or compile a Tree Alert report.

• Take samples for analysis.

• Research which tree pests are important to your work using the UK Plant Health Risk Register and Pest Risk Analysis.

• Take appropriate action where necessary.

Audience

People working in countryside management, gardening, plant nursery trade, nature conservation, landscape design, utility contracts, forestry, management of public and private woodland resource, conservation and tree health volunteers, interested amateurs, career developers.

Join our director, John Grimshaw for an informal walk in the arboretum.

You are guaranteed to discover something new and experience summer in the arboretum like never before!

All welcome - no prior knowledge required.

The event costs £10 per person. Booking is essential

Please book your place via emailing visit@yorkshirearboretum.org or phone 01653 648598