Chalfont St Peter Garden Club Newsletter - March 2006
Chairman: Charles Flawn
Secretary: Linda Hills-Harrop
Garden Hut Manager: Cliff Thayer
Treasurer : Robert Bastin Dear Member,
Your Club is urgently in need of help. We are seeking
someone to operate our ‘loud speaker’ system at the monthly
speaker meetings in the Church Hall. The job is not
technical and full instruction and ongoing support will be
given. For more details please contact Charles on
--------------------. Meetings This month’s meeting
will be in the Church Hall at 8pm on March 15th when we
shall have our AGM followed by Mrs. Christy Leary talking
about ‘Hanging Baskets & Container Gardens’, this is a
subject where a little additional knowledge can make an
enormous difference to the final display. With this
knowledge you will be able to take better advantage of the
great offers in the Hut.
The Garden Hut will be open on all Sundays from
10.00 am to 12 noon. Very important, you must show your new
BLUE Membership card. A discount of 10% will be offered on
all purchases of £20 and over until end March. In addition
to our normal ‘peat’s & composts’, ERIC is again available
(he was out of stock at the end of last year) sadly there
has been a small increase in his price. Unfortunately the 3
bags of compost for £10 have been discontinued and any
remaining stock will be sold at NETT price. Now some good
news! Due to the new price structure at our Wholesalers,
prices have been reduced on A/B seed & potting compost, also
all grades of JI loam based composts. 35ltr A/B is £3.50;
75ltr A/B is £5.20; and all JI composts £2.65 per bag.
Further details of ‘Special Offers’ will be advertised in
the Hut. Growbags should be available at the end of March,
these will come from a new supplier in smaller deliveries,
so only a small amount of help will be needed, more details
of this in due course. Jane’s Garden Tips Spring
weather will encourage new growth of perennials and
ornamental grasses; so cut back the dead top growth, so as
not to damage the fresh shoots, some perennials such as
penstemons don’t die down but need to be cut back to keep
them compact. Take cuttings from over wintered fuchsias as
they start into growth or buy a plant and make lots more,
use non flowering shoots, cut pieces about 2” long which
need to have 2 pairs of leaves and a clump of leaves at the
tip, remove lower set of leaves and dip in hormone rooting
powder, place in pots of mixture of compost and coarse grit,
as growth begins nip out the growing tip to make the plant
bushier. Take cuttings from delphinium plants choosing short
shoots from as low down as possible from the parent plant,
pot up several shots in a pot of free drainage compost,
cover with a bag and leave in a cool place. Get ahead with
baskets and containers if you have frost-free conditions in
which to grow them on, until they are put out in May, try
using starter plants from garden centres or mail order.
Prune buddleia stems back to low shoots emerging from near
the base. A simple way to make sure you sow your seeds at
the correct time is to make yourself a seed packet organizer
– shoeboxes are ideal with a few bits of cardboard with the
months written on to act as dividers to separate packets. As
young seedlings come through prick them out into trays of
compost as soon as they are big enough to handle and prevent
them becoming drawn and thin, hold each seedling by the
leaves and ease out with a dibber transfer into holes about
2” apart in trays of compost and firm in gently, water and
keep warm and shaded until they recover then move to full
light but not strong sunlight. Plant out onions and
shallots, sow herbs, tomatoes, peppers, chillies, leeks and
brassicas in a warm greenhouse, plant early potatoes, sow
outside under cloches beetroot, early carrots, early peas,
broad beans and small amounts of lettuce and radish.
COACH OUTING TO LEONARDSLEE (Horsham/Surrey) –
Wed.April 26th.
This is 240 acres spread around seven lakes in a sheltered
valley, were Wallabies and Deer graze, and Rhododendrons,
Azaleas, Camellias and Magnolias flower in perfusion, (and
Daffs) You can see Wildfowl, and large Carp that patrol the
Lakes. There is a “Chelsea” award- winning Bonsai show in
the courtyard, with the Loder Family Victorian Motor car
display, also the grand Behind the Dolls-house 1/12th scale
exhibition of estate and Village life (now extended) of one
hundred years ago. There is the Clock Tower Restaurant for
meals, unless you would like to picnic, of course.(near the
car park!) There is also a gift shop and plants for sale!
(Owing to the steep slopes, wheelchairs are not advised in
the gardens, but there is plenty of seating available).
The Coach will leave “Church Hall” at 9.30am. and return at
4.30pm. Please make cheques out to “Chalfont St. Peter
Garden Club” and send to –MR.K.GOULD, take to the club Hut
any Sunday morning. All Postal Bookings will be acknowledged
by phone (so please enter your phone number!) Many
thanks-KEITH. Note(c/m =club member; n/m = non / member.)
Our Summer Show
The Annual Summer Show will be held on Saturday 19 August at
the Community Centre. While you are planning your seed
sowing etc ready for this, we thought it might be helpful to
let you know in advance of two additional changes to the
schedule. We are following the Spring Show’s example and
introducing as an experiment, three photographic classes. In
the Floral Art we are reintroducing one class, “Flowers from
my Garden” in which all the flowers and foliage have to be
grown in the exhibitor’s garden. By telling you now you can
choose all sorts of seeds and plants to grow for this! The
schedules will be ready as usual by June. Grace Hunter, Show
Secretary. How to grow Snowdrops They will do well
on chalk, but suffer on heavy clay and neutral-to-alkaline
soil suits them best. They need rich loam or leaf mould,
never manure, although some experts suggest a mulch with
mushroom compost, which is obtainable from our Hut. Plant
them deep in light shade, make sure that they do not dry out
in summer and ensure that clumps are divided every three
years, because overcrowding can cause disease. Now is a good
time to plant/divide them while they are in the ‘green’.
Topical Tips It may seem early to be thinking about
staking, but you get far better results if you start just as
the new shoots of herbaceous perennials are emerging. Sticks
cut from hazel beech or bark make the most effective natural
stakes. You need to use twiggy lengths that are a foot
longer than the eventual height of the plant that you are
staking, intertwine the twiggy ends. By Phil Astley of
Cottesbrooke Hall, Northamptonshire. Tools for
Children. The Gardener’s Apprentice range from Joseph
Bentley is claimed to be one of the best sets of children’s
tools available. Crafted to adult standards the
stainless-steel tools are lightweight and compact. There are
eight tools available including a rake, a Dutch hoe, spade,
trowel and fork. Prices range from 3.49 to 14.99 for the
spade. Call 01652-661920, or visit www.josephbentley.co.uk
Books. Gardening with Children by Kim Wilde is packed
with interesting ideas on how to create a child’s garden.
There’s an excellent section on garden safety, including a
list of harmful plants that should be avoided. ‘Gardening
with Children’ is published by Collins at £12.99
Wellington Boots Colourful Wellingtons have become the
norm, but if you want wellies that come on and off easily,
choose Lakeland boots with looped handles, available for £16
from Wonderful Wellies (01289-381225) or
www.wonderfulwellies.co.uk . But the flashiest of all are
the ‘fireman’s’ wellies for children at £13.50 from
Stylechild (01423-701506) www.stylechild.co.uk
Felco Secateurs. If you own a pair of Felco Secateurs, these
can be serviced at a reasonable price by Burton McCall Ltd
at 163 Park Drive, Leicester, LE4 0JP; tel. 0116-234-0800.
They may well service other brands, try giving them a ring.
Organic Insecticide I was reading an article about
Garlic and came across this useful recipe:- Crush a garlic,
mix with water, onion and cayenne pepper and use as an
organic insecticide to discourage aphids and whitefly.
In the Clear If you are unsure when to re-pot your
houseplants, try a see through pot, plants grown in them can
be checked for root development at any time. Also great for
orchids which like their roots in the light.
For more information Plantarium-see-through-pots on 020 8980
7895 for stockists. Or www.plantarium.co.uk
Greenhouse Glass. Do you have problems keeping your
glass clear? Our last Speaker had an answer.
He said to spray the glass inside and out with a solution of
Armillatox at a concentration of 200 to one.
This kills the moss etc without hurting the plants.
Armillatox is available from the Hut.
Organic Horse Manure. Composted organic manure is available
at Widmer Farm Stables, Rawlings Lane, Seer Green. It is
free, but you must supply and load your own containers.
Available Greenhouse 8” x 6”. Free to any member willing to
collect. 01753 889727
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