Chalfont St Peter Garden Club Newsletter - October 2005

Dear Member,

Our next Summer Show will be on Saturday 19th August 2006, please make a note of this date!

Meetings; This month’s meeting will be at 8pm on Wednesday 19 th in the Church Hall when Martin Harwood will show slides and tell us about his ‘National Collection’ of Narcissus at Chobham in Surrey. If you wish to wise-up on this subject then log on to: -

http://www.bbc.co.uk/gardening/plants/plantprofile_daffodil.shtml

where you will find a good write up about this fascinating type of daffodil.

Keith’s Coach Outings in 2006. On the back of this Newsletter is a full list of ideas for Coach trips. Please let Keith know which ones you would like him to arrange. Contact him on 01753- 884012 or tell him at the Hut on Sundays.

The Garden Hut will be open on Sundays from 10.00 am to 12 noon. Very important, you must show your Membership card. Our autumn Special Offers are now available and include Autumn Lawn Feed plus Moss killer. Two brands are in stock (a) J. Arthur Bowers is available in 100 sq.Mtr. and 400 sq Mtr.packs; and (b) Levingtons in 100 sq Mtr, 250 sqMtr and 400 sq Mtr. Packs; lawn spreaders are available on loan to help you with the application. We have a variety of lawn seed in stock together with JI seed grade loam to cover the seed. Bulb Fibre and all composts and fertilizers are available, also Pine decorative bark. There are a few sets of stainless steel trowels and forks in presentation cases, which would make excellent Christmas presents. We have riddles, yard brooms, gloves and a few forks and spades at excellent prices. Don’t forget to apply ‘grease bands’ and tree grease to protect your fruit trees. In addition to Pathclear and Bug killer, Tumbleweed is now in ‘Ready-to-use spray packs.

Just a small reminder to Members who wish to order tools as Christmas presents, please order NOW to avoid disappointment. Advanced notice of winter opening times: -

November open every Sunday but from 10.30 to 12 noon only.

December CLOSED all month

January 2006 opening Sundays 15th, 22 nd, and 29 th from 10.30 to 12 noon

SEEDS. Dobie’s catalogues will be in the Hut this month, so start thinking about what you need and how you are going to brighten your garden next year!

Jane’s Garden Tips

As summer flowering bedding plants have more or less come to an end now, clear away removing any weeds as you go and saving seed for next year, compost the plant debris, tidy up the edges re-cutting with a spade or half-moon cutter, scatter fertiliser and fork in. Plant up with spring flowering bulbs and bedding plants. Cut back perennials to ground level that are past their best, chopping up stems for faster rotting on the compost. Leave sedums and grasses these look beautiful covered in frost. Lilies can be planted in the garden or in containers; they need to be deeply planted as they produce stem roots on the lower part of the stem, ensure the bulbs have 6” of soil above them (this year I encountered the scarlet coloured lily beetle and it’s black slime covered grubs which can devastate the plant left unchecked, pick off or spray with Ultimate Bug Killer). Sow sweet peas to give them the best chance of germination, soak the seed for 24 hours, over winter as young plants. Clear up leaves from lawns and borders as they fall, also net ponds to prevent leaves falling in and harming fish, clear the net as necessary. Pelargoniums will not survive the winter but can be over-wintered; lift and pot in John Innes, cut back top growth to about 4” and keep in a frost-free position, water sparingly, or take cutting, which can be kept on the windowsill over winter. Now is a good time to lay turf while the soil is still warm, remove perennial weeds from the area, start laying at the edge of a bed or boundary working backwards avoiding walking on it, water well. Clean and scrub pots and trays, disinfect with Jeyes Fluid or similar. Plant garlic with the tips just showing. Sow broad beans to produce a crop early summer. Currants, gooseberries and fruit bushes can be propagated as hardwood cuttings, cut 10” long shoots dip in hormone powder, make a slit trench with sand in the bottom, cover 2/3 of cutting and transplant next year.

Keith’s Coach Outings in 2006.

Next season I shall continue to provide Club members with as economic a price as possible, the more members who come, the more economic the price will become! For non-members I am introducing a surcharge of £1 extra per person per trip. Next years trips will be chosen BY YOU from the following list, please let me know which you would like to go on, ring Keith on 01753- 884012 or tell me at the Hut on Sunday.

Colchester Zoo £17.50/£18.50 ea. in March or September Please note Colchester Zoo is £2.00 extra for adults. / £1.50 less for wheelchair& carer.

Groombridge Place £17 /£18.ea in May. Leonardslee £17.50/£18.50ea in April Yalding Organic Garden £15/£16ea in June

Osterley Park £16/£17ea in June

Ightham Mote £17.50/£18.50ea in July

Broughton Castle £17/£18ea in July

R.H.S.Gardens Wisley £13/£14ea in September

Wisley is for the Coach seat only as we are an affiliated group, so entry is free.

Full details for each outing selected will appear in the previous months newsletter.i.e. The outing for March would be advertised in Febuary, and the April outing in March’s newsletter. Should there not be enough seats booked by the end of the first week in the outing month, then the visit would have to be cancelled, so you should book in the month the outing is advertised, please.

I will put a full list and details of the outings that I (you) have chosen in next months newsletter for reference…Please feel free to comment as you wish on dates or otherwise! KEITH

Present Requests Do you ever get asked what you would like as a present? One idea might be a Swiss-made Felco No.8 Secateurs; these are the choice of amateurs and professionals gardeners. They have precision blades of high-carbon steel and the handles have contoured grips and anti-shock rubber cushioning. The cost about £45, but they will outlast you, your son and your grandson!

Books One in three Britons owns an Expert book. These books are usually the best-thumbed of any gardening book. They are still – even for the experienced gardener – a first port of call for basic know-how. They are the best starting point for beginners to discover anything they need to know. The House Plant Expert, first published in 1960, now has a sequel, Book 2 is now available, it has added information and more pictures. Cost £6.99, and would make an excellent present.

Organic Horse Manure. Composted manure is available at Widmer Farm Stables, Rawlings Lane, Seer Green. It is free, but you must supply and load your own containers.

Chiltern Open Air Museum, Newlands Park , Gorelands Lane, near Chalfont St. Giles www.coam.org.uk info: 01494-872163 or 871117

. 1 st & 2 nd October Victorian Harvest

Gardens Open. Usually open 2 to 5 pm

Oct 5 th Waddesdon Manor Gardens.

Buyer Beware . Through the medium of this Newsletter the club is bringing to your attention, opportunities that may interest you, however, you must satisfy yourself that they meet your requirements as Chalfont St. Peter Garden Club will accept no legal, moral or financial responsibility.