Grow a garden for inner and outer nourishment

The Tree School Mentorship is on pause for 2025, so that we may do a deep-dive into fruit tree education. Click here to learn more about this exciting new community learning adventure!

Tree School Mentorship

An 8-month gardening mentorship to create a fruitful, climate resilient,
spiritually connective garden ecosystem to feed your family and the earth.

Led by Tree School Founder, Certified Arborist, and longtime gardener Corva Rose, this program guides folks on their journey of growing a garden practice rooted in intuition, community, relational and technical skills, timeless gardening wisdom, and above all kindness and compassion for all those with whom we share this world.

Led by Tree School Founder, Certified Arborist, and longtime gardener Corva Rose, this program guides folks on their journey of growing a garden practice rooted in intuition, community, relational and technical skills, timeless gardening wisdom, and above all kindness and compassion for all those with whom we share this world.

THIS SOUNDS AMAZING. SIGN ME UP!
“I’ve learned so much through this program and it’s helped me to think much more holistically about my garden and all the creatures who spend time here.”
~ Emily Cohen

The time is now to tend to your gardening journey.

The 8-month Tree School Mentorship cohort begins once a year, and is currently open for enrollment!
See below for details.

How Do You Achieve Results?

Through Following The Tree School Climate Adaptation Method:
The Tree School Climate Adaptation Method
Click each circle for more details

Engagement

Moving from overwhelm about the world to engagement with the world

Strategy
Moving from confusion to strategic planning & achieving your goals

Joy

Mixing your adaptive gardening methods with JOY
Community

Cultivating community, belonging, and hope

Habitat

Developing wildlife habitat from a place of compassion

In our mentorship we will explore topics such as:

  • building connection to the earth and self
  • how climate change is impacting your garden
  • soil trauma and degradation
  • choosing plants for our future climate
  • how to make your garden actually “work”
  • creating a garden as a refuge for self and others
  • how to garden with your intuition and senses
  • designing a home garden that nourishes your inner garden and is interconnected with the world.

Our approach

Here at Tree School, we invite you to move through the garden, and the world, with curiosity. We like to ask lots of questions.

For example, before we can get to answer questions like, “What creates a fruitful, climate resilient and spiritually connective garden ecosystem?”, we ask deeper, more foundational questions like:

Why do we garden? Where do our ideas of gardening come from? What is the history of the land? How does our lineage, race, class and identity inform our approach? And, how can I/we work with the earth, and all the elements, in a way that brings the least harm possible? 

We see the answers to those questions coming from the awareness and analysis of three gardens, actually: The Inner Garden, The Home Garden, and The World Garden.

The curriculum guides each student through a process of cultivating and growing each of these three gardens, three worlds essentially, that interrelate and affect each other.
“Tree School helped me create and nurture a better garden space – learning the value of native plant species, pruning and mulching, sustainable watering practices and an awareness of the interdependence of all species residing there. More importantly, however, has been Corva’s mission of having us grow our own inner garden as well as realize our garden’s place in the greater community.

I just received my ABQ Backyard Wildlife Habitat Certification from Friends of Valle de Oro. I am so proud and pleased, but I truly could not have done it without Corva’s invaluable expertise, support and encouragement. I have learned so much from my Tree School experience and it has enhanced not only my garden, but also my life.”
~ Sharon Hall
THIS SOUNDS AMAZING. SIGN ME UP!

What’s included:

  • Initial private session with Corva at your house: We spend 3 hours together, mapping out your yard and setting your course for the next 8 months. This session might also include some pruning, diagnostics, and basic design work as part of the main focus -- getting you oriented for this 8-month journey.
  • Twice monthly 3-hour Saturday Sessions, for Garden Working-and-Learning: The location of these Sessions rotates between Corva’s Teaching Garden, the home gardens of fellow Tree Schoolers (you have an opportunity to get some community help on a project and additional input from Corva!), and volunteer sites (we make a difference in the world together!) During these sessions, there are many opportunities to receive instruction, ask questions, get and give encouragement, and celebrate. We spend time together with the earth – listening and tuning in.
  • Serious Gardening Skills — During these Sessions, we learn solid, high-level skills in the areas of pruning, biology, plant identification and uses, soil, seeds, water, mulch, harvesting, garden design, habitat development, project management. All within the context of climate change as it relates to gardening. You will have access to plant cuttings, seeds, and random cool garden supplies and tools from Corva’s stash.
  • Feedback and community support in our private Slack group: This online community hub is easy to navigate and is our virtual garden patio where we hang out, touch base between sessions, exchange ideas, and get questions answered. Graduates of the program get to stay in this group, so they remain connected and have access to Corva for questions and feedback.
  • A one-hour 1:1 session with Corva at your home: This is scheduled during your 8 months, and can be used in whatever way you need.
  • We Engage in Projects That Uplift — Throughout the program, we as a group will connect with and support local organizations that focus on developing peace, community food security, habitat development, and climate equity, thereby widening our focus to the World Garden. This big picture work then influences our home gardens and our inner gardens, which then ripples out into the world.
  • A supportive group (your fellow Tree School-ers!) and expert gardener and major cheerleader (Corva!) to encourage you on this journey.
  • And some fun extras! Occasional guest teachers; free admission to Playshops that happen during the 8 months, and an opportunity to help new students at these Playshops; and additional curriculum as Tree School develops.

Investment

Enrollment is $2500 (+ NM tax) for 8 months, payable in full.
Or 8 monthly payments of $330.00 (+ NM tax)

Teachers

Corva will be assisted by Maria McCullough (Mentorship graduate, musician, rest guide,
and open-hearted earth tender) as co-facilitator for the sessions.

Dates for the Cohort

Click here to view the dates for the 8-month Mentorship.

  • Please fill out the Mentorship Application by clicking here.
  • We will contact you within a day or two to schedule a conversation with us
    (Corva and Maria) to make sure it’s a good, harmonic fit for all of us!

YES! THIS IS SO WHAT I’VE BEEN WANTING!

Sign Me Up! (Full Payment)
Sign Me Up! (Six Payments)

Or, if you want to speak with Corva to make sure the program is right for you,
book a no-pressure Tree School discovery call to answer all your questions.

Enrollment

The cozy space for this in-person cohort is limited to 8 people, and we would be delighted to welcome you to the group!

Joining a program of this depth and duration is a time and energy commitment.

We understand that, and we want you to have success, comfort, and enjoyment here.

In order to cultivate good conditions for this to happen, our enrollment process involves a Mentorship Application and a subsequent meeting with you and the teachers to make sure it’s a good, harmonic fit for all of us.

  • Enrollment is paused on the Tree School Mentorship until further notice.
  • Please fill out the Mentorship Application by clicking here.
  • We will contact you within a day or two to schedule a conversation with us
    (Corva and Maria) to make sure it’s a good, harmonic fit for all of us!

YES! THIS IS SO WHAT I’VE BEEN WANTING!

Sign Me Up! (Full Payment)
Sign Me Up! (Six Payments)

Or, if you want to speak with Corva to make sure the program is right for you,
book a no-pressure Tree School discovery call to answer all your questions.

“Corva is an excellent, clear teacher. She concisely covers the big-picture aesthetic stuff, like how we want this shrub to look, how it fits in the landscape and with my aesthetic, as well as the small-picture technical aspects of where and how to make a cut and the effect it has on the plant's structure and health in the short and long term. Her effect on me is almost like a self-help workshop, encouraging me to slow down and be more deliberate about the choices I make when working with plants.”
~ Sarah
"Corva brings so much love and care to every tree planting, visit, check-up, and healing process. We love seeing her thorough and gentle approach with our trees and the land we all rely on for nourishment.
~ J&M

Content © 2024 Tree School New Mexico

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Mentorship Dates:

The 2024 Mentorship is in-progress, and the 2025 dates have not been set yet.
The following dates/times are when we will be meeting together in person, for our 2024 cohort. Please check to see if you are able to attend all of the following dates, as Tree School has a magic of its own that comes together when we all participate. If you know that you will not be able to make all of the sessions, please indicate this in the application below. If you need to miss a session, we will provide materials/handouts, but there are no makeup sessions.
  • April 20:  (10am – 2pm) We open our circle with a nourishing and welcoming 4-hour retreat/garden time/creative day!
  • April 27:  (10am – 1pm) 
  • May 11:  (time TBA) We will participate in the Yerba Mansa Project Bosque Restoration Day
  • May 25:  (8 – 11am) 
  • June 15:  (8 – 11am) 
  • June 29:  (8 – 11am) 
  • July + August:  We take a break from meeting in person.  These 2 months are Integration/rest/individual project time. There is a Playshop during this time, and we are also connected via Slack.
  • July 14:  Made in the Shade Playshop
  • Sept 7:  (8 – 11am) 
  • Sept 28:  (8 – 11am) 
  • Oct 12:  (10am – 1pm) 
  • Oct 26:  (10am – 1pm) 
  • Nov 2:  Playshop 
  • Nov 9:  (10am – 1pm)
  • Nov 23:  (10am – 2pm) We close our circle with a replenishing and grounding 4-hour retreat/garden time/creative day!

Habitat: Developing wildlife habitat from a place of compassion

You’re very clear about not spraying harmful chemicals in your yard but now you want to learn more about how to actually cultivate a healthy garden ecosystem.

You’re concerned that wildlife are losing habitat at an alarming rate, and your heart hurts thinking about how the climate crisis is affecting them.

You’d like to learn how to make your space both wildlife friendly and a thriving garden that humans can eat from as well.

You’re ready to put your compassion for the seen and unseen beings around you into action, and have your outdoor space be part of the local (and world!) habitat quilt.

Results of the program:
You feel confident in your good-hearted gardening practices, and through the process of certifying your space as Wildlife Habitat, you become an informed and knowledgeable habitat advocate. You get to see more wildlife using the space and receiving benefit, which feels so good!

Community: Cultivating community, belonging, and hope

You feel some isolation and disconnection after the last 2 yrs, and some fragmentation between what’s happening internally in your heart and externally in the world.

You might feel intimidated or unsatisfied by mainstream gardening classes or instructional videos that don’t feel like they speak to your sensitive heart, your worldview that includes equity and justice, or the sovereignty of the Indigenous peoples who are the original stewards of this bioregion.

You long for instruction that speaks to your specific garden and helps you develop the skills you need.

You are ready to be part of a like- minded community of supportive gardeners who are digging deep together, creating a world where we all feel we belong.

Results of the program:
Through getting to experience the tangible support of the community working in your yard, and learning with the other Tree Schoolers over your six months, you feel connected, supported, and supportive. Through building connections with others in the program, you experience feeling cohesive, integrated, and hopeful.

Joy: Mixing your adaptive gardening methods with JOY

You feel fearful and anxious about the unraveling of climate, both locally and globally. You want to know how to effectively prepare for what’s coming, and how to pivot and respond as things change.

You’re ready to learn as much as you can about climate adaptive practices, but you don’t want to feed your fear in the process.

There are so many methods out there, and the clock is ticking. You want to make the most of the time you have, but you know that a light touch and a loving heart will be more fruitful than pushing for results with a worried state of mind.

You are ready to learn how to cultivate joy in the midst of all we are facing, and then co-create adaptivity from this playful place.

Results of the program:
You feel joyful, confident and clear about how to foster more adaptability, and what actual steps to take. You learn the skills needed to transform your yard into the climate resilient garden you want.

Strategy: Moving from confusion to strategic planning & achieving your goals

You look at your garden and wonder where to start and what to do. You don’t want to do it ‘wrong’ but also don’t want to get trapped by ‘shoulds’.

There might be gaps in your skills and figuring out what exactly you need to learn is a bit daunting. Maybe you’ve tried a lot of things and gotten mixed results.

You are tired of getting sporadic help, not really making the progress you want, or it’s slow and feels fragmented and not cohesive. You are longing for some deeper transformation in your yard and your relationship with it, not just a superficial ‘fix’ that addresses one aspect of the garden but not the whole.

You are ready to create a strategy that lays out exactly where you are going with your garden space, what skills you will develop, and how to achieve your goals.

Results of the program:
You are clear and on-track, with momentum, and feel happy with yourself in the process.

You receive help with a plan/design, and also with making solid, important decisions – thus saving time/money.

You learn the gardening skills you need, and experience cohesive, steady, holistic progress that continues and develops into the future.

Engagement: Moving from overwhelm about the world to engagement with the world

You feel deeply about the climate crisis and the suffering in the world, and want to be a positive force for healing and change, but you find yourself getting overwhelmed and frozen about how best to use your energy in service.

You are ready to use your garden space to be part of the solution.

You want to learn what  your role and your next step is here, and how to move into engagement with the world that is grounded and steady.

Results of the program:

You are able to use your depth of feeling to become a more effective, loving presence in your spheres of influence (family, neighborhood, circle of friends, city, or workplace).

You feel clear, on-purpose, and good about your role and engagement in the world.

Important notes about communicating with me:

  • Phone/texting: I prefer to not be contacted via phone or text at this time. If you are a previous Divine Earth customer and you have my phone number, I ask you to please respect these new guidelines to help me keep my health and sanity. Thank you!
  • Emails: I answer emails between 9am and 5pm, not before or after.
    My aim is to answer emails within 24-36 hours.
  • My device boundaries: I turn my devices off for chunks of the day. On the weekends I pick one full day to have all tech off. This feeds many birds with one scone: I become more focussed when I’m ‘on’; I can relax and recharge more easily when I’m ‘off’; I become less beholden to the energetic/emotional tug of the ever-present and yes so helpful gadgets in my life (as one of my Teachers says, created by distracted people for distracted people); I can more easily tune into the outer gardens and the inner garden in my heart.