Chalfont St Peter Garden Club Newsletter - November 2004

Chairman: Charles FlawnS
ecretary: Linda Hill-Harrop
Garden Hut Manager: Cliff layer
Newsletter Guest editor this month: Bryan Nicholson


Dear Member,

OUR SUMMER SHOW 2005. will be on Saturday 20th August at the Community Centre
Meetings; This month's meeting will be at 8pm on Wednesday 17th in the Church Hall when our speaker will be Dr. P.E. Brandham. His topic will be “AYear at Kew" and we understand that he is an expert on this subject.

Tickets for the December meeting, our Christmas party will be £6 each, to cover fish and chips, a glass of wine and a mince pie. These will be available from the Hut during November, available at the November meeting or available from Linda as above. Important: this has to be entry by ticket only to enable the ordering of food.

Stop Press! The October meeting, consisting of a floral art demonstration, was a considerable success. Organised at a late stage owing to a cancellation of earlier arrangements owing to illness, it featured three of our own members, Doris Grant, Florence Hallam, and Grace Hunter, each of whom had been prize-winners in our Summer Show this year. They gave excellent individual demonstrations of floral art, with particular reference to the Christmas season. We learned a good deal about suitable plant material for this art form, as well as local sources of suitable foliage and accessories. Particularly impressive was the level of participation by members present, producing a wide range of arrangements, demonstrating the variety of forms possible. Asked to try to select a winner, our Chairman had to confess that there were so many examples of excellence that it was not possible to decide on just one winner. Attention was drawn to the fact that we want to encourage more entries in the Floral Art section of the Summer Show 2005 where we include a novices' section for newcomers to exhibiting.

Seed catalogues
There are still some seed catalogues available at the Hut for collection. We are offered 50% off seeds from Thompson and Morgan or 33% off Dobies. You will find ordering details on a sheet from Linda in the Dobies catalogues which refer to both offers. Important, forms with payment must be to Linda by December 12"
The Garden Hut will be open every Sunday in November only from 10.00 am to 12 noon. Very important, you must show your Membership card. This is the last month the hut will be open during 2004: closed the whole of December. There is still time to apply Autumn Lawn fertilizer to the grass this month and in December before any hard frosts occur. This is still in stock in quantities to feed 44 sq. m. or 100 sq. m. of lawns. Now the soil is moist it is a good idea to hoe in some Sulphur chips around ericaceous plants; a watering of MAXICROP IRON will also help. We still have a few hanging baskets 10" and 14" in stock. The finest quality compost for these containers is SHL which contains a water holding agent. Alan Moffat has clean Steel Drums to give away; any member interested please phone Alan on 01753-886774 or mobile 07850-014554.

PLEASE NOTE: 2005 HUT OPENING HOURS
JANUARY SUNDAYS 16th 23`d 30th 10am until 12 noon.
FEBRUARY 61h to NOVEMBER 27th (inclusive) EVERY SUNDAY 10AM UNTIL 12 NOON (any alterations will be advised in subsequent newsletters) Cliff.

Jane's Garden Notes
Now is a good time to plant evergreen shrubs including conifers and hedging plants, the soil still retains some warmth and this should encourage new growth to continue, also prepare area and plant trees, shrubs and roses. By planting now they will settle before winter, but be sure to water regularly if conditions turn dry, mulch as necessary to retain moisture. Put summer crops on the compost heap, chopping up any thicker stems to aid break down, continue raking leaves and then compost. When sweet peas sown last month (still can be done this month) have grown to about 6" tall pinch out the growing tips to encourage shoots to develop from the axils of each leaf up the stem. After the last grass cut on a high setting, give your lawn mower a good clean up and service, (or arrange for a professional to do it). Remove caked-on grass clippings, sharpen blades and on electric mowers check cables and connections Spike lawns and brush some sharp sand into the holes to improve drainage. Remove pumps from the pond and place a piece of netting across to prevent leaves falling in. If you are having a bonfire check for sheltering hedgehogs and frogs, always move material to a fresh site. Protect tender patio plants by insulating them and wrapping the pot with bubble wrap and wrap the plant with fleece, check regularly and keep watered so the compost is just wet, move to a sheltered spot. Cut down autumn fruiting raspberries. There is still time to plant garlic and Japanese onions, but protect the latter with fleece.

Squashes. When looking through your Dobies or Thompson & Morgan seed catalogues, consider growing some squashes next season. They are an excellent vegetable, although not often found in greengrocers' shops.
Slices of the fruit can be fried or baked and readily take up added flavours from spices or herbs. The seeds need to be sown in early May for planting out when all chance of frost is past. They need well-manured soil and a steady supply of water through the season until the first frosts. The seed catalogue will show whether they are trailing or bush habit, so allow enough room. To help with this, you can use intercropping or catch cropping (planting between other crops or so as to come on after others, such as early potatoes). They belong to the enormous Concurbita family of plants, which includes marrows and pumpkins. This family easily cross-pollinates, so avoid proximity to ornamental gourds, or you will end up with attractive-looking but bitter squashes. We have a Summer show class, 21, for 3 squashes, 'may be assorted'. Squashes can be eaten immature, or when fully developed, they store well in a frost-free shed.

Storing Dahlia tubers.
Most winters in our area, tubers would survive in the ground over winter. But it's best to dig them up, otherwise the tubers get bigger and bigger, producing ever more shoots with more flowers, but smaller ones. So you may wish to dig them up and allow them to produce new shoots to create new plants for next year, especially if you are a show exhibitor. Some growers employ 'pot tubers', that is, tubers confined in flower pots expressly to produce new shoots for next year. If you want to store your tubers in a frost-free garage or shed, cut the plants down when blackened by the first frost, then drain out the hollow stems. You can simply hang up the larger tubers, or put the smaller ones in peat or wood-based compost to over winter, starting them up in the Spring by dampening them and increasing temperature a little. Examine all tubers before storage, discarding any really poor ones and treating any damaged surfaces with sulphur dust from the Hut. Check them periodically during the winter. Although the small-flowered Coltness dahlias do produce tubers and can be lifted for storage, it is easier to sow new seeds in the spring for bedding purposes. Summer Show Dahlia classes: 28 to 35 inclusive.

Allotments available. There are still some vacant allotments available on both the "Love's Delight" site in the village centre and the "Hill House" site between Mill Meadow and the A413, A five poles plot costs £6 and a ten poles plot costs £12, payable about now for the year. In each instance, we pay an extra £5 per year for the use of a hose, as the water is metered. If you are not experienced in allotment work, don't try to take the whole plot into cultivation in one go. Do a bit, but do it thoroughly. It can be hard work, but we all need exercise and it is cheaper than going to the Gym! Then get some vegetables growing and cultivate some more ground. It really is great to be able to tell your lunch or dinner guests that "these vegetables were still growing at breakfast time!" Contact Sue Moffat, the Parish Clerk on 01753-891582 or pop into the Parish Council office, (near our Hut) any weekday morning. Or e-mail her at smoffat@chalfontstpeter-pc.qov.uk

Coach outings planned for 2005 - With many thanks to those of you who filled in my outing selection forms, I have decided that we can do four outings next year, as follows:
27'h April, Hever Castle and Gardens, Edenbridge; 25"' May, Wakehurst Place, Ardingly, West Sussex; 22nd June, Cambridge University Botanic Gardens; 27'h July, Abbey House Gardens, Malmesbury;
At this time prices are not yet fixed: I am considering whether we could also go to LONGLEAT in SEPTEMBER (28r") but that will depend on getting full coaches on the other outings - these dates are all the Fourth Wednesday in the month. PLEASE PUT THE DATES IN YOUR DIARIES NOW - KEITH.