Terrarium Workshop in Wood Green: Tropical Glass From £55

Tropical Glass runs its terrarium workshop at Crawley Studios, 38 Crawley Rd, London N22 6AG, and the standard ticket starts at £55 for the Balloon jar. The class lasts about 1.5 hours, starts at 2:00 pm on selected Saturdays, and covers every material, so you leave with a closed corked-jar terrarium you planted yourself. The nearest Tube is Turnpike Lane on the Piccadilly line, and the studio lists free parking outside. Nothing in the booking assumes you have ever touched a trowel.

The address on the booking page is Crawley Studios, 38 Crawley Rd, London N22 6AG, a short way from Wood Green in north London. Tropical Glass names Turnpike Lane on the Piccadilly line as the nearest Tube and says there is free parking available outside the studio, which is unusual for a London class and useful if you plan to carry a glass jar and a bag of plants back home. The studio asks you to arrive ten minutes early so you can settle in before the session begins.

Tropical Glass was started by Katie and Lucas, who describe the business as a hobby that slowly took over their shelves and weekends. After reading about sealed terrariums that had survived for decades, they set out to build their own, experimenting with different glass vessels, plants, mosses and soil layers. Some attempts worked beautifully and others taught them what these small ecosystems need. During the Covid years the hobby became a business, and a studio supervisor named Bernie joined the family in the early days.

The class is a relaxed, hands-on session where you layer soil, stones, moss and tropical plants inside a glass jar, with step-by-step guidance from the studio's expert. The finished piece is a closed terrarium with a cork lid, the type that recycles its own moisture and asks for very little care. The booking page describes the session as an introduction to self-contained ecosystems and their history, so you hear why the layers go where they do before you start pressing moss into place.

The ticket page lets you pick a glass shape when you book. The options listed are Balloon, Chimney, Large Chimney, Wide Jar, Large Balloon, Large Balloon with Bonsai and Large Conical with Bonsai, and standard tickets run from £55 for the Balloon to £100 for the Large Conical with Bonsai. If this is your first build, the plain jars keep the layering simple, while the bonsai versions add a small tree to arrange among the moss. The closed jar comes with a cork lid.

The standard ticket covers all materials, tools and a hand-picked glass container, healthy tropical plants and lush mosses, and a printed care guide with tips for keeping the terrarium happy. You also get a bag for safe transport, which matters once the jar is full of damp moss and soil. There is nothing to buy on the day and nothing to bring except your order confirmation email, which the studio treats as your ticket.

The published dates for 2026 are Saturday 7 November, Saturday 21 November, Saturday 5 December and Saturday 19 December, each starting at 2:00 pm. The 17 October session already shows as sold out, which is a good sign of how quickly a Saturday slot goes. Booking is online through the Tropical Glass website, where the ticket page lets you choose the date and container together. Pick the date first, because the container choices appear alongside the dates on the same page.

The cancellation rule is strict and worth reading before you pay. If you cancel more than 24 hours after receiving your order confirmation, and the class is not due within the next 7 days, you are entitled to a full refund to the original payment method. If the class is due within the next 7 days, there is no refund or credit note. In practice that means a booking made for a class next Saturday cannot be taken back, so book once your weekend is settled.

The studio calls the class beginner-friendly and pitches it at plant lovers, birthdays, dates and anyone after a quiet weekend activity. There is also a Bring a Plus One option, which lets two people enjoy creating one terrarium together rather than each making their own. That suits a couple who want a shared project for the windowsill, though if you each want your own jar, buy two standard tickets. Reviewers include friends who attended together and a group booking from a work event.

The workshop page shows 54 reviews, with 52 five-star ratings, which is 96 per cent, and 2 four-star ratings. One reviewer called it a really fun workshop for a work event, while another wrote that the plants were thriving after the journey home and looked healthy and vibrant. A third described the session as very informative, very attentive and very knowledgeable. The shop side of the site carries a 4.9 out of 5 rating, though the workshop reviews are the ones that describe the class itself.

Because the terrarium is closed with a cork lid, the care card you take home covers the basics of keeping it balanced, and the printed guide is part of the ticket. The idea that started Katie and Lucas, sealed jars that survive for years, is the same principle you are borrowing on a small scale. If you want another project afterwards, Tropical Glass sells DIY terrarium kits, ready-made terrariums and personalisation, and offers corporate terrarium workshops for team events.

A 2:00 pm class leaves the morning free, and north London has plenty to fill it. Alexandra Palace and its park sit on the hill above Wood Green, close enough to fill the morning before you head to Crawley Road. Wood Green High Road is the nearest shopping street for lunch before the 2:00 pm start. Afterwards the jar goes into the bag provided, so you can carry it home on the Piccadilly line rather than sending it ahead.

Address: Crawley Studios, 38 Crawley Rd, London N22 6AG. Nearest Tube: Turnpike Lane, Piccadilly line. Price: standard tickets from £55 (Balloon) to £100 (Large Conical with Bonsai), with a Bring a Plus One option. Duration: approximately 1.5 hours, starting at 2:00 pm on the listed Saturdays in November and December 2026. Parking: free outside the studio. Phone: 07760 608006. Email: info@tropicalglass.co.uk. Your order confirmation email is your ticket. Refunds follow the 24-hour and 7-day rule above. Source: the Tropical Glass terrarium workshop page at tropicalglass.co.uk.