Chalfont St Peter Garden Club Newsletter - March 2005
Chairman: Charles Flawn
Secretary: Linda Hills-Harrop
Garden Hut Manager Cliff Thayer
Tour Manager Keith Gould
Dear Member, The weather seems to be giving us a late winter, so do
your gardening by the weather and not by what books may tell you;
doing something a week or so later is unlikely to make much
difference.
Meetings: This months meeting is in the Church
Hall at 8pm on March 16th when we shall have our AGM
followed by a talk from Dr. Kathy Brown who is a Garden
writer and designer and is going to talk to us about the
Cottage Garden - sounds like a very interesting speaker.
With our April Spring Show we will be having a
Photo Competition. The Classes will be - Class 1. The
Garden and Class2. A Favourite Flower. You will be asked
to judge the entries. This is a fun event, and an
opportunity to show off your photos in colour or black &
white mounted on paper or card of up to A3 size max. You
must have-a-go!
The Garden Hut will be open on all Sundays from
10.00 am to 12 noon. Very important, you must show your
green Membership card. A discount of 10% will be offered on
all purchases of £20 and over until 13th March.
The hut is well stocked for all of your Spring needs. We
have Yard brooms as well as brooms for the patio, also
propagator lids, fleece and fleece pegs, and a good range of
gloves for ladies and gents. Growbags will be on sale from
Sunday 20th March. Our Speaker in February was Derek Dean, a
professional grower of Pelargoniums, who described how he
made his own compost comprising 80%John Innes soil base
10%Perlite and 10% peat plus a pack of ChemPak nutrients.
There is a range of different Chempaks that we stock in
the Hut and all the other materials are also available from
the Hut. We also stock Sulphur Chips which are used to
make limey soils more acid and so acceptable to some
lime-hating plants. Delivery of Growbags has been arranged
for Wednesday 16th March when help will be needed at the hut
for unloading. Just a reminder, THE HUT WILL BE OPEN AS
USUAL ON EASTER SUNDAY 27TH MARCH.
Janes Garden Tips
To get ahead with hanging baskets, begin to plant up now if
you have the space and conditions to grow on (plenty of
light and temperature range of 61-65oF). By using plug
plants there is plenty of choice, favourites like fuchsias,
surfinias, petunias and not forgetting the wide range of
trailing plants. These are easy to use and some have been
designed to plant in the net to minimise root disturbance.
Use a good quality compost and add some slow release
fertiliser, keep well watered and they will be ready to hang
out mid-late May in bloom. Fuchsias that have been over
wintered in the greenhouse will be starting into growth now
can be propagated from non-flowering shoots, and if done now
will produce sturdy new plants this summer. Divide congested
clumps of perennials every 3-5 years, including many
alpines, geraniums and hostas if left unattended they will
produce less flowers and die back in the middle, clear soil
from around the roots to see the best points for division,
which can be done by teasing apart with two forks back to
back, or chopping with a spade or sharp knife. Replant
stronger looking sections in well-prepared soil, smaller
divisions can be potted up for planting up later or giving
away. Start to stake taller growing perennials while they
are still small. Protect new shoots from slug damage. Place
a good layer of mulch on borders that have been weeded and
watered prior to this application. Prune roses now before
there are too many new shoots. Prune spring flowering shrubs
after flowering. After primulas and Polyanthus have finished
flowering dig up clumps, trim off old foliage, and divide
before replanting. Start to sow parsnips carrots brassicas
leeks and onion set in previously warmed and protected soil.
Greenhouse crops, tomato, aubergine, peppers and cucumber
can be started off in propagator now for planting out in the
green house later. Start off successive planting of salad
crops.
Coach Outings---See Booking Slip -- All coaches
leave church hall/lane at 9am and exit venues at 5pm. I am
sure you will see that I have kept prices to a minimum, and
I must point out that I cannot reserve seats as it is book
& pay only.
Make cheques out to CH.ST.PETER GARDEN CLUB, and take to
the HUT (Sundays) or send to MR.K.GOULD All letters
received will be acknowledged by phone.
Please Book me (
) seats for Hever Castle (April 27th ) @
£17.00 ea (£
..) Name
Address
Phone
No.
Cut here
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
cut here
Please Book me (
) seats for Wakehurst Place (May 25th ) @
£16.50ea (£
..) Name
Address
Phone
No.
Friends of Kew and NT.Members Please tick (
..) and pay
£10.50 ea Members must bring with them a valid card for free
entry!
Please do not send membership renewals with coach bookings.
Global Warming You may have noticed that over recent
years the times at which wild plants leaf-up, bloom and
fruit has been getting steadily earlier, and this has an
impact on wild life. Phenology is the study of the times of
recurring natural phenomena, especially in relation to
climatic change. The UK Phenology Project is recruiting
volunteers from all over the country to contribute valuable
observations from year to year. If you would like to get
involved visit
www.phenology.org.uk this web site is most interesting
as it has masses of detail and lovely calendars to download
every month, have a look!
Ladybird Invader. Ladybirds are normally very
welcome in your garden, however the voracious harlequin
ladybird eats so much, so quickly that it can outcompete our
own species, The harlequin has spread over Europe and has
been seen here, it could wipe out half of our 40 odd
species. Harlequins vary in colour, the easiest way to
recognise them is by the white plate behind its head with a
big black M or W on it. If you find one, put it alive into a
film canister with soft packing and send it to: - Dr.
Michael Majerus. Dept. of Genetics, Cambridge University,
Downing St. Cambridge, CB2 3EH. With your name & address and
say where you found it.
Winter Garden If you want to cheer-up your garden
during the darkest months of the year now is the time to
start planning and planting those crucial shrubs with
suitable under-planting of bulbs, try crocus, snowdrop,
primrose and daffodils. For trees consider- Prunus
subhirtella Autumnalis or Viburnum bodnantense their
scents and flowers brighten the dull days. You could try
hamamelis (Witch Hazel) intermedia jelena or H. mollis they
all carry beautiful scented flowers, if you have limey soil
grow them in a pot. A delightful winter plant is helleborus
orientalis (Lenten rose) it comes in many shades. Winter
flowering shrubs can be a dead weight at other times of the
year unless you chose wisely and site them correctly in your
garden. Mahonia media charity has year round appeal with
its evergreen architectural foliage. If you have room plant
early Viburnum like pure-white January flowering V.farreri
candidissimum its a beauty! And there are so many more
that you will find in the garden centres.
Common Plants Survey. Plantlife is looking for
volunteers to help with its annual survey of 65 common wild
plants. By keeping track of how well these are doing it is
gauging the health of our habitats. For more information
call 01722-342755 or email: -
enquiries@plantlife.org.uk
Coloured Vegetables! If your children or
grandchildren dont like eating greens, how about red
sprouts, yellow beetroot or orange cauliflower? This is the
way that some supermarket chains are about to encourage us
to buy more vegetables. Some of these new varieties are
filtering through to the amateur seed catalogues, so you can
grow them. |
