Make a Willow Trug

Leilah Vyner of Dragon Willow is running a willow trug workshop at Stillingfleet Lodge Garden on Monday 17 August, a full day for beginners to learn how to weave their own garden basket.

A willow trug is a bit of a garden classic: a sturdy basket woven from pliable, colourful English willows, used for carrying cut flowers, vegetables or fruit from the garden back to the house, or for taking seed packets out to the plot. The day is built around learning those weaving techniques, and everyone leaves with a trug of their own. It's a beginner's course, so you don't need to have ever touched a willow rod before to get stuck in.

The venue is Stillingfleet Lodge Garden & Nursery, a family-run organic garden just outside York. It's been planted up over 40 years and now holds more than 600 varieties of unusual plants, many grown on site. The nursery celebrated its 40th anniversary in 2024, and the estate runs a full year of workshops, from practical gardening like vegetable growing and apple-tree pruning to arts and crafts. This trug day is part of that wider programme.

It runs from 10:00am to 4:00pm, so it's a proper full-day thing. The course sold out in 2025, so booking early is a good shout if you're keen. Tickets are £85.00.