Garden Classes in NYC, New York

Bonsai is the ancient Japanese art form of miniature trees in containers.  It is an art form that helps connect us to nature. Through this process, it strengthens our spirit. This is why Bonsai can be a figurative mirror image of the grower. With an open heart and mind, students can start their own journey of personal growth through the art of...

A great abundance of edible and medicinal wild plants and mushrooms makes this park a great place for edible and medicinal plants and mushrooms in late summer. Burdock, an expensive detoxifying herb sold in health food stores, abounds in cultivated areas throughout the park. You can also use this invasive species as a superb root vegetable, or even...

The 2021 foraging season, the 39th, opens with Central Park, a perennial popular venue for foragers, beginning at 11:45 AM, Saturday, March 6, just inside the park at West 72nd St. This tour will be co-led by "Wildman," and his daughter, Violet Brill, who will be leading some solo tours throughout the Greater NY area again as well. Most foragers...

Saxon Woods Park's forested areas grassy habitats, and swamps are excellent places for mid-spring foraging, and we'll be very busy with a variety of common, widespread, renewable native and exotic plant species as we explore these habitats. The sunny borders between woodlands and the parking lot provide prime habitat for various wild herbs and greens....

This is a great place for wild foods in mid-summer. Wild greens will also be thriving in fields and along trail edges. We'll be looking for chickweed, which tastes like corn on the cob, lemony sheep sorrel and greenbriar, spicy poor man's pepper, crunchy purslane, and pungent field garlic seeds. We'll also hunt for culinary and medicinal herbs such...

What is the line between art and decoration? Think beyond the confines of "pretty" and consider flowers in terms of line, gesture, texture, and form. We will examine the bright colors and infinite patterns of a masterwork by Yayoi Kusama and create sculptural interpretations in dialogue with that work. $175 materials fee.Please bring:Pruners and a...

“The Art of Nature” …an outdoor workshop in contemplative sketchting in Central Park, NYC. Just as mystics have sought meditative peace in the woods deep quietude, the natural world has also inspired artists of all cultures. They have applied their artistic skills to capture it with the techniques of sketching. The act of sketching requires...

With a lake, trails, and disturbed habitats, this park is a great place for mid-fall foraging, and America's go-to gal for foraging, Violet Brill, will teach you how to recogniize them, harvest them ecologically, and use them. This is the peak of the mushroom season, and with lots of rain beforehand, and some luck, chicken mushrooms, hen...

Saturday, March 6 The 2021 foraging season, the 39th, opens with Central Park, a perennial popular venue for foragers, beginning at 11:45 AM, Saturday, March 6, just inside the park at West 72nd St. This tour will be co-led by "Wildman," and his daughter, Violet Brill, who will be leading some solo tours throughout the Greater NY area again as well....

June 6 This well-known greenway, with open, sunny habitats, wooded sections, thickets, and edges, is ideal for finding the best edible wild plants of early spring, and this tour, led by Violet Brill, will give you the best opportunity to learn about, collect, and enjoy some of our best common, tasty, renewable species. In open, sunny areas, we'll...

This is a great place for wild foods in mid-summer. Wild greens will also be thriving in fields and along trail edges. We'll be looking for chickweed, which tastes like corn on the cob, lemony sheep sorrel and greenbriar, spicy poor man's pepper, crunchy purslane, and pungent field garlic seeds. We'll also hunt for culinary and medicinal herbs such...

With a lake, trails, and disturbed habitats, this park is a great place for mid-fall foraging, and America's go-to gal for foraging, Violet Brill, will teach you how to recogniize them, harvest them ecologically, and use them. This is the peak of the mushroom season, and with lots of rain beforehand, and some luck, chicken mushrooms, hen...

The seashore is always a special place for edible wild plants, and autumn is no exception. In addition to the beach habitat and adjacent fields and thickets, it's got cultivated areas, wetlands, and woodland trails. The most spectacular find in the sand within sight of the ocean is sea rocket, is a pungent, succulent mustard found nowhere else, and...

Class will take place outside on NYBG grounds and follow current safety procedures. Registered students will be sent information regarding meeting location and log-in information.The fascinating lives of bats are revealed courtesy of J. Alan Clark, Ph.D., co-author of Bats in the Bronx, a recent study of five local bat species. Venture onto NYBG's...

This blended class meets online for some sessions and on NYBG grounds for others. Registered students will receive login instructions and a syllabus with specifics.  With its wide variety of habitats and its position on the Atlantic Flyway, NYC is a bird-lover's paradise. Over 300 distinct resident or migratory species live here or pass through,...