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Gardening Help

How to Create an
English Garden Trough

Troughs at the Chicago Botanic Garden

 

English trough containers are stone-like garden containers you can make at home from common materials. They are great for shallow-rooted hardy perennials, dwarf alpines, herbs or annuals. Examples of these versatile troughs can be seen in the English Walled Garden and Heritage Garden.

Nancy Clifton teaches trough-making workshops twice a year through the Joseph Regenstein, Jr. School of the Chicago Botanic Garden. Look for her classes online and in the catalogs.

Join Nancy at the next trough-making workshop, on Wednesday, September 13, from 1 to 2:30 p.m. All materials for the container are included in the course, and a supply list will be provided so that you can make other troughs at home. For registration information, visit www.chicagobotanic.org/continuinged.

Register Online for a Trough Gardening Class

Download step-by-step instructions (PDF 1.4MB)