Fee: $15/$10 members. Bring along your lawn mower blade for a free sharpening by Lynden staff following the workshop.
Registration Registration for this session is closed. Due to popular demand, we've added a second session, Saturday, March 5 at 1 pm. To register for that session, click here.

Join Andy Yencha and Weston Wagner, Lynden’s land managers, for a hands-on workshop designed to get your lawn and garden tools in tip-top shape for the upcoming growing season. Garden tools are no strangers to abuse and generally do their jobs with minimal care, but top-performing tools are both easier and safer to use and sharp tools cut plants cleanly which promotes better plant health. Andy and Weston will discuss the many benefits of sharp tools and then demonstrate how they keep Lynden’s shovels, hoes, rakes, pruning tools, and lawn mower blades maintained, sharing tips on removing rust and on environmentally friendly lubricants and rust inhibitors They will discuss various sharpening methods and show you how to use a sharpening file, water stone, and electric grinding wheel on both digging and pruning tools. Following these demonstrations, participants will get a chance to practice on the personal tools they bring to the workshop or tools provided by Lynden.

Fee: $8/$6 members (all materials included).
Regstration: Register by phone at 414-446-8794.

Naturalist Naomi Cobb will introduce you to the wonderful array of birds that spend the winter in Wisconsin (and that we are observing as part of Cornell's FeederWatch program). Taking their preferred winter diet into account, you will assemble a variety of birdseed feeders that your neighborhood birds will appreciate. That done, we will hike to Lynden's feeders where we will use binoculars to spot the birds currently in the garden, and scatter a few of our feeders for the resident birds.

All ages welcome; children younger than 12 should attend with an adult. Dress appropriately for the weather so you can enjoy the hike. Seeds and nuts will be used in this workshop.

Fee: Free to members or with admission to the sculpture garden.
Registration: Registration for the lantern making workshop is now closed. You are welcome to bring your own lantern and join us for the walk at 5 pm. Advance registration required; email us at staff@lyndensculpturegarden.org to let us know you're attending and how many there will be in your party.

Fee: $25/$20 members (all materials included). Price is per set of blocks.
Registration: Space is limited, advanced registration required. Online registration is closed; register by phone at 414-446-8794. Suitable for children ages 6 and up accompanied by an adult. Some tools only suitable for children ages 10 and up under adult supervision.

Lynden is offering a series of holiday giftmaking workshops between November 22 and December 12. They range from simple activities suitable for families with smaller children to more advanced workshops for adults. To enhance the celebratory spirit, we will have light refreshments available for participants. Whether you are making a gift for yourself or another, these workshops should provide a cheerful atmosphere for art making as we head into winter. To see a complete list of holiday giftmaking workshops, visit our Workshops page.

Make a set of tree building blocks for your young children. These blocks, made from locally harvested wood, provide a sensory activity for your children and enable them to practice balance and engineering skills. Andy Yencha, our land manager and wood artisan, and naturalist Naomi Cobb will guide you through the process from raw wood to finished block, and will help you create a container for your set.

Free to members or with admission to the sculpture garden.

Naturalist Naomi Cobb leads a walk through Lynden's back acres beneath the light of the harvest moon, ending with a bonfire. Moonrise is at 8:47 pm. The harvest moon (or hunter's moon) is accorded with special honor, historically serving as an important feast day for many Native American tribes. At Lynden, we will be hunting for the sights and sounds of the night, and feasting on treats by the fire.

Free.

University of Wisconsin-Extension Associate Professor Sharon Morrisey explores Lynden's extensive tree collection. Come with questions!

Free to members or with admission to the sculpture garden.

Andy Yencha, Lynden's new land manager, launches a series of workshops on environmentally friendly landscape practices for homeowners and backyard gardeners.

Like other urban areas in the United States, the cities and villages that make up the greater Milwaukee area are largely covered by residential properties. Depending on how they are managed, their lawns and other landscape features can have a tremendous impact--both positive and negative--on our local environment, especially the water in local streams, rivers and Lake Michigan. This program will look at a variety of landscape practices and management strategies, many currently in use at the Lynden Sculpture Garden, designed to make our lawns and planting beds look good while reducing storm water runoff as well as the need for pesticides and fertilizer applications. Topics will include tips on designing, siting and building rain gardens; low input lawn care techniques; rain water harvesting tips with rain barrels and larger cisterns; and the use of water permeable materials, like brick pavers and porous masonry blocks, for patios and walkways. The two hour session will include a tour of the lawn, prairie and rain garden at Lynden.

Free to members or with admission to the sculpture garden.
Native Americans of the Eastern Forests used many types of plants to make toys for their children. Drop by the studio to learn a simple way to make a doll from cattail reeds harvested from the ponds at Lynden.

Free to members or with admission to the sculpture garden.

Join artists-in-residence Pat Hidson and Tori Tasch as they collect seeds from Lynden's prairies (wild bergamot, blazing star, woodland sunflower) and decorate paper bags to store them for planting next spring.

Free to members or with admission to the sculpture garden. Younger children should work with an adult.

Winter is coming and the days are getting shorter--a perfect time to make a colorful suncatcher from a garland of pressed foliage. Choose from the natural materials we have on hand or collect your own leaves from the grounds to create your own unique composition. Take your suncatcher home and hang it in a sunny window to bring some color into the dark winter months.