A Practical Introduction to Scything Course

Fota House, Arboretum and Gardens are delighted to run a scythe course at Fota House. Please book online via Fota House or call us on Call 0214815543.

Price: €85 per person

Max Person: 12

The course will be run by Christopher Hayes and Fergus O’ Regan with the help of Ian Graham who runs Fota’s working orchard garden and has re-introduced scythe mowing in Fota.  All three are enthusiastic advocates for the scythe as a modern, efficient and environmentally relevant tool.

Fota House has begun to take a greater interest in the management of its grassland areas, with the focus being to protect and promote biodiversity. The intention is to create sustainable managed wildlife areas in parts of the estate. A move to less disruptive methods are being explored. As an alternative to fossil fuel powered machinery scythes are convivial with nature and ourselves. Working with a scythe isn’t the hard, back breaking work many imagine. Children, men and women of all ages and a very wide range of abilities use scythes and learning to mow isn’t difficult. Scything is fun! Imagine a summer weekend without the noise and air pollution of lawnmower and strimmer engines!

The hands on one-day course will cover scythe adjustment, safe blade handling and mowing, fundamental mowing technique and sharpening methods and will also touch on grass and meadow management and some of the history and culture of scythes.

Our instructors will give personalised on the spot advice as you use your new skills on a variety of grass in the garden. They can also point you in the right direction regarding your own future use of the tool.

Our aim is to give you the skills and confidence to consider a scythe as a realistic option  in your farm, garden or community.

There will be tea and coffee on arrival (10am), and a light lunch around midday. The course will start at 10.30am sharp. Please note there is a 10-15 minute walk from the car park to the Victorian Working Garden.

This course is suitable for adults of all ages (18+) and perfect for absolute beginners but also those with experience that would like to improve or refresh their skills.

Ideally participants would use their own scythes as this allows for help with personalised set up and tuning however your scythe should be in working condition.

Chris Hayes will have a selection of scythes and accessories for sale on the day and it may be possible for us to supply a scythe to use for the course but please request in advance for either.

Please get in touch if you have any questions about your (or your scythe’s) abilities  to do this course.

Our Instructors:

Chris Hayes started scything when he worked as a forester. He needed a comfortable tool that would help him control grass growing around young trees in young woodlands. He has been teaching for eleven years and loves spreading the good news about this wonderful tool. He teaches and sells high quality scythe equipment (scythe.ie) appropriate to Ireland.

Fergus O’Regan is one of our team of volunteers. He started managing some of his home garden for wildlife around 15 years ago. As a beekeeper he started to use a scythe for managing vegetation around beehives. After trying to teach himself how to use an old scythe (and not doing very well at that) he became a student of Chris’s and is now enjoying the enormous potential of hand mowing.

Please book online via Fota House or call us on Call 0214815543.